Rengifo lifts Angels over Rays 4-3; Tampa Bay loses 5th straight in opener of 13-game homestand

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Luis Rengifo hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Angels rallied to beat Tampa Bay 4-3 Tuesday night, extending the Rays’ losing streak to five in the opener of a 13-game homestand.

Kenley Jansen allowed singles to Jake Mangum and Taylor Walls starting the ninth but escaped a second-and-third, no-outs jam for his third save. Yandy Diaz grounded to Rengifo, who threw out Mangum at the plate from third, and Jansen struck out Brandon Lowe and Jose Caballero to seal the Angels’ third straight win.

Tampa Bay drew 10,046 in its seventh sellout at Steinbrenner Field but dropped to 4-3 at its temporary home, the Yankees spring training ballpark.

This series originally was scheduled for Anaheim but Major League Baseball rearranged the schedule to have the Rays play 19 of their first 22 games at home in an attempt to lessen the impact of summer storms at the open-air ballpark. The Rays’ usual home, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, has a dome that was damaged by Hurricane Milton last October.

The Rays went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners, including seven in the last three innings. Pete Fairbanks (1-1) was the loser.

Tampa Bay’s Kameron Misner was hit on the helmet by a 98.8 mph pitch from Brock Burke (2-0) in the eighth but stayed in the game.

Anaheim's Kyren Paris hit his third homer this seasons, a two-run drive off Shane Baz, with a video review upholding there was no fan interference.

Junior Caminero’s homer off Ben Joyce started a three-run seventh that overcame a 2-0 deficit. Christopher Morel hit a tying double and scored on Misner’s triple.

Travis d’Arnaud hit a tying RBI grounder in the eighth.

Key moment

Morel was ejected by plate umpire Rob Drake after a called strike in the eighth. He had words with the umpire and slammed his bat.

Key stat

Jansen went 0 for 4, grounding into a double play, and is 1 for 24 in his first season with Tampa Bay.

Up next

Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (0-1, 4.50 ERA) and Rays RHP starter Ryan Pepiot (0-1) Wednesday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb