ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi pitched two-hit ball over six scoreless innings and matched the major league lead with his 11th victory as the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Marcus Semien and Corey Seager homered for the Rangers (57-39), whose fifth consecutive victory since the break matched their season-best winning streak.
Eovaldi (11-3) struck out two, walked three and hit a batter, though the Rays stranded six runners on base against him. It was his first start for Texas since July 6, though he threw a scoreless second inning for the American League in last week's All-Star Game.
Will Smith, the third Texas reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.
Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe went deep for the Rays (60-38), who still have the AL's best record and a one-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East despite losing their last three games. They have lost 10 of 13 overall in July.
Tampa Bay starter Taj Bradley (5-6) struck out nine pitching into the sixth inning. The rookie right-hander gave up two runs and walked two.
Seager struck out three times against Bradley, but his 14th homer was a three-run shot to straightaway center that made it 5-1 in the seventh on the first pitch he saw from Javy Guerra, the second Rays reliever. That came a pitch after fellow All-Star Semien's third hit was a single that ricocheted off the left foot of Guerra, who then was checked out and threw a couple of warmup tosses before staying in the game.
Semien's 13th homer was a one-out solo shot in the third. The Rangers went up 2-0 in the sixth when Travis Jankowski, who had already extended his hitting streak to eight games with an earlier single, had an RBI double.
Rays No. 9 batter Francisco Mejía had a one-out RBI double off José Leclerc in the seventh before Grant Anderson took over and got an inning-ending double-play grounder from Wander Franco. Anderson gave up Arozarena's 17th homer and Lowe's 10th in a span of three batters in the eighth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: DH Harold Ramirez was hit in the chest on a full-count pitch leading off the fifth inning. He stayed in the game. ... Bradley fell down after his front (left) foot slipped when throwing a pitch to Josh Jung in the fourth. Bradley got up and gave a thumbs-up indicating he was OK, though the Rays still checked on him.
TOP PICK SIGNED
Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford, the fourth overall draft on July 9, signed a contract with an $8 million bonus that is the largest ever for a player drafted by Texas. Langford took some batting practice on the field before the game and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
UP NEXT
The season series finale is Wednesday. Rangers right-hander Jon Gray (6-5, 3.45 ERA) is 0-4 with a 5.24 ERA over his last six starts, a stretch which began with a complete-game 1-0 loss to St. Louis on June 7. The Rays likely will go with right-hander Zack Littell (0-1, 6.05), who has started only two of his 14 games.
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