Rays score 3 in 9th inning to rally for 4-3 win over Rangers

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Taylor Walls hit a two-run single to second baseman Marcus Semien in the ninth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night.

Junior Caminero, who homered off Jack Leiter in the second inning, had an RBI single against Robert Garcia (1-3) to pull the Rays to 3-2 earlier in the ninth. After Jake Mangum flied out for the second out, Christopher Morel singled to load the bases.

Walls then hit a grounder to Semien, but no one was covering first base and Caminero came around to score from second for the winning run.

It marked the second straight night the Rays won on a defensive miscue. On Wednesday night, Tampa Bay took advantage of Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker forgetting to cover first base to score a run and then scored another when Rocker then held the ball as Jonathan Aranda scored from second.

Semien had two solo homers and Jake Burger also went deep for the Rangers.

Cole Sluser (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth inning for the Rays.

Key Moment

With two outs in the ninth, Morel singled on a ground ball to third baseman Josh Jung, who bobbled the ball with Morel racing to first to beat out the play and keep the inning going.

Key Stat

Ryan Pepiot allowed two runs and three hits over six innings. Burger’s hoer in the third snapped Pepiot’s 20-inning scoreless streak, the second-longest active streak in the majors behind teammate Drew Rasmussen’s 23 innings. Pepiot also gave up a homer to Semien in the fifth.

Up next

Rays RHP Zack Littell (5-5, 3.86 ERA) stars against Marlins RHP Edward Cabrera (2-1, 4.14) in the teams' series opener on Friday in Tampa. Rangers RHP Patrick Corbin (3-4, 3.71) faces Nationals RHP Michael Soroka (2-3, 5.81) in the series opener at Washington.

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