RANGERS 5, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The surging Texas Rangers are looking more and more like a serious playoff contender.
Lance Lynn struck out 10 over eight innings of three-hit ball, and the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 Friday night for their season-best sixth-consecutive victory.
Lynn (10-4) allowed just one runner to reach third base. The right-hander held Tampa Bay without a hit from two outs in the second until Willy Adames opened the eighth with a double.
"Got some quick outs, got some strikeouts, got some great plays behind me and we were able to score some runs early so I was able to attack," Lynn said.
Jose Leclerc completed a three-hitter for the Rangers, who moved into a tie for the first AL wild card with the Rays at 46-36.
"I don't think anybody in our clubhouse is surprised," Texas Manager Chris Woodward said. "We know we've got starting pitching and a bullpen that can execute pitches. We got on one of the best offenses, if not the best offense, in baseball. So we feel like we can match up with anybody."
Tampa Bay was coming off a 3-7 road trip.
"We got outplayed, outpitched and they came up with some timely hits," Rays Manager Kevin Cash said. "We're a team right now that recognizes that things are not coming easy for us."
Texas took a 3-0 lead in the second on an RBI double by Rougned Odor and Ronald Guzman's two-run double off Yonny Chirinos (7-4).
Chirinos gave up 4 runs, 5 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings.
The third inning included a couple bizarre baserunning plays -- one runner was thrown out on a walk, and another scored on an errant pickoff attempt following an infield hit.
Elvis Andrus was on first when Nomar Mazara drew a base on balls. Andrus safely reached second but took off for third when catcher Mike Zunino made an off-target throw to shortstop Adames, who started a rundown that resulted in an out.
Mazara advanced to second on Joey Gallo's infield single. The ball was returned to Chirinos, who then made a bad throw to second as center fielder Guillermo Heredia sneaked in behind Mazara, who scored to make it 4-0.
ORIOLES 13, INDIANS 0 Baltimore took the luster off Mike Clevinger's return from the injured list, scoring seven early runs off the right-hander in a rout of visiting Cleveland.
BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 2 Eric Sogard hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered twice and host Toronto beat Kansas City.
WHITE SOX 6, TWINS 4 Ross Detwiler pitched five effective innings for his first win in nearly three years and Chicago beat visiting Minnesota.
ASTROS 2, MARINERS 1 (10) Yuli Gurriel hit a game-ending home run in the 10th inning and host Houston beat Seattle.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 6, METS 2 Streaking rookie Mike Soroka outpitched Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, and Atlanta beat host New York.
REDS 6, CUBS 3 Cole Hamels left after only one inning because of discomfort in his side and Cincinnati defeated visiting Chicago.
MARLINS 6, PHILLIES 2 Brian Anderson drove in three runs with a double and his 11th home run as host Miami defeated Philadelphia.
PIRATES 3, BREWERS 2 Kevin Newman homered and extended his hitting streak to 18 games, and visiting Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee.
ROCKIES 13, DODGERS 9 Pinch-hitter Pat Valaika and David Dahl each homered in an eight-run fifth inning, Nolan Arenado had four hits including a home run and host Colorado beat Los Angeles.
INTERLEAGUE
NATIONALS 3, TIGERS 1 Anibal Sanchez beat his former team for his third win in four starts, Juan Soto hit his 14th home run of the season and Washington beat host Detroit.
Friday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 6, NY Mets 2
Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 3
Miami 6, Philadelphia 2
Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 2
Colorado 13, LA Dodgers 9
St. Louis at San Diego, (n)
Arizona at San Francisco, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 13, Cleveland 0
Toronto 6, Kansas City 2
Texas 5, Tampa Bay 0
Chicago White Sox 6, Minnesota 4
Houston 2, Seattle 1 (10)
Oakland at LA Angels, (n)
INTERLEAGUE
Washington 3, Detroit 1
Sports on 06/29/2019