Rays 3, Rangers 0: Saturday Shutout!

The Rays are in Arlington, continuing their weekend series against the Texas Rangers after dropping the first game last night. Rich Hill is on the mound for the Rays, while Kolby Allard starts for Rangers.

Manuel Margot worked a leadoff walk to begin this game and he moved up to third two pitches later after Yandy Diaz hit a single. On top of that, Diaz moved up to second on the play. It’s a good thing Diaz moved up, because that allowed Austin Meadows to score two runs on a line drive up the middle, making it 2-0 Rays. A trio of groundouts ended the inning.

Rich Hill struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa to begin the bottom of the first and worked a hitless inning, despite walking a batter. Hill added two more strikeouts to his record in the second inning, getting Joey Gallo and Nate Lowe out looking.

The third inning was a 1-2-3 inning for both sides, while in the top of the fourth, the Rays were sat down in order via strikeouts by Allard. Hill allowed his first hit in the bottom of the fourth, a single by Adolis Garcia, but that hit did not equate to a run.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hill allowed a triple to Charlie Culberson but once again Hill did a great job to not allow that runner to score, keeping it 2-0 Rays heading into the top of the sixth.

Kolby Allard was pulled after five innings of work and Randy Arozarena greeted reliever Demarcus Evans with a two-out double. Arozarena was stranded after Brandon Lowe struck out.

Rich Hill’s day was also done after five innings of work. Hill threw 59 pitches, striking out three, allowing two hits and walking one. Ryan Thompson relieved Hill, allowed a one-out single but induced an inning-ending double play to move onto the seventh. Thompson recorded the first out in the bottom of the seventh before being replaced by Jeffrey Springs.

Springs struck out Gallo and got Nate Lowe to ground out to power Rays pitching through seven scoreless innings. In the top of the eighth, Manuel Margot provided that pitching staff with some insurance, hitting a solo home run over the left field wall to make it 3-0 Rays. Margot’s solo shot left his bat at 104 mph and traveled 377 feet.

Pete Fairbanks was brought in to face his former team in the bottom of the eighth. Fairbanks struck out Lowe and pinch-hitter Brock Holt before allowing a single to Willie Calhoun. Calhoun attempted to steal second base, but Mike Zunino was behind the plate, so Calhoun was thrown out with plenty of time to end the eighth.

Brett Martin entered in the top of the ninth to pitch for the Rangers, and he set the Rays down on eight pitches. Diego Castillo took the mound in the bottom of the ninth to try and get the save for the Rays. Castillo struck out Jason Martin for the first out, struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the second out and struck out Adolis Garcia to secure the win.

The Rays bounced back from a series-opening loss last night to even things in Arlington. The pitching staff was dominant and the offense did enough to make tomorrow's game a possible series-winner. Dane Dunning will take the mound for the Rangers against a Rays pitcher to be determined, first pitch is scheduled for 2:35 pm.