Cedric Mullins slashed a tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth inning and Victor Mesa Jr. made it stand up with a dazzling catch in the ninth, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to their 20th series victory by nipping the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Thursday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In 2-all contest in the rubber match between two American League division leaders, Mullins cued a 96 mph fastball from Ben Peoples (0-1) over the short wall 315 feet from home plate. It was the same wall Evan Longoria hit his walk-off homer over in Game 162 in 2011 to send the Rays to the postseason.
The Rangers had a chance to take control in the ninth. With no outs and a speedy Nicky Lopez on first, Mesa, the right fielder, dashed toward the foul pole, reached up and backhanded Evan Carter’s drive that likely robbed the pinch hitter of an extra-base hit.
Bryan Baker walked two in the inning but fanned Ezequiel Duran with the tying run on second for his 30th save. Garrett Cleavinger (3-3) tossed a scoreless eighth.
Jonny DeLuca homered and went 2-for-4 with a stolen base for Tampa Bay, while Yandy Diaz had two singles and an RBI. The Rays outhit Texas 9-2 and won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Wyatt Langford doubled in a run for Texas, which scored just six total runs in the three-game series.
The home side broke through against Marco Gonzalez in the third inning on Diaz’s two-out RBI single. After allowing the next to Rays to reach and load the bases, the lefty reliever escaped further damage by coaxing Mullins into a groundout to end the frame.
Starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (mid-back tightness) was removed from the contest early in his start. He tossed three-plus hitless innings and allowed one run with three strikeouts, two walks and one hit batter.
After the lefty allowed the first to Rangers to reach base to start the fourth, manager Kevin Cash and the training staff came out and removed the southpaw from the contest for Casey Legumina.
Rangers pinch hitter Joc Pederson drove in a run on a grounder to shortstop Taylor Walls, who booted the ball for an error, allowing Texas to tie the game at 1.
Langford’s double into the left-field corner plated Alejandro Osuna in the top of the fifth to give Texas its first lead. DeLuca re-evened the score with his seventh homer, a 415-foot solo shot to left, in the bottom of the sixth.
