Monday, September 28, 2009
Tampa Bay Rays 7, Texas Rangers 6
Photo not provided by the Texas Rangers
The Rangers' late-season record at home was just plain ugly.
ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers left their last home game of the season with a bitter loss, going down 7-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak, and Texas' record fell to 85-70.
With the loss, the Rangers were all but officially eliminated from the playoff race. The Rangers are now six games behind the Boston Red Sox for the wild card, and six games behind the LA Angels for first place in the AL West. Texas begins a four-game series against the Angels on Monday, followed by a three-game series in Seattle to finish the season.
Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy was excellent, giving up just two runs -- neither of them earned -- on six hits over seven-plus innings. But the Texas bullpen blew the 5-0 run McCarthy staked them to, giving up seven runs in the eighth and ninth innings to lose the game, as well as almost any chance to salvage their postseason plans.
Nelson Cruz had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to open the scoring. Marlon Byrd hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, his 20th of the season.
Posted by Todd M.
