The Texas Rangers blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Tropicana Field. The Rays now have a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-Three AL Wild Card series and has put Tampa Bay on the brink of elimination.
Tampa Bay had a rough day on defense, committing four errors that aided the Rangers cause. Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 5.40) allowed two runs (one of them earned) through the first five innings. After walking the first two batters in the sixth, he was pulled - when both runs came around to score, he wound up getting pegged with all four runs (three earned) while striking out eight and walking five.
Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 0,00) stole the show, throwing seven shutout innings in which he allowed six hits while striking out five and walking none. He kept the Rays offense off-balance most of the game, and the Rays had another postseason outing where their offense struggled.
The Rays now look to avoid elimination in the second game of the best-of-three series on Wednesday afternoon. Zach Eflin (16-8, 3.50 in the regular season) will get the start for Tampa Bay and oppose former Ray Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63 in the regular season) for Texas. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 3:08 PM on Wednesday. Ronnie & T-Kras begin pregame coverage with the Inside Pitch at 2:00 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES