 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 four runs, five hits and four walks in six 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.''I saw him coming in, and I wasn't surprised that he was coming in,'' Chirinos said through a translator. ''But I just made a bad throw.'' Woodward said the two plays had him ''looking around for a full moon.'' ''Then I realized we were indoors because I didn't know what was going on,'' Woodward added. ''If you had your head down, you'd go, `What just happened?'''Odor left in the ninth after what Woodward said was possibly a left hamstring cramp that happened on a single.TRAINER'S ROOMRangers: AL All-Star DH Hunter Pence (strained right groin) was encouraged after running the bases and could be back next week. ... LHP Jeffrey Springs (left biceps tendinitis) has been shutdown. ''It didn't seem to get better with treatment, so that's when the doctors said `OK, there's something going on in there,''' Woodward said.Rays: CF Kevin Kiermaier, who left Thursday's game with right calf tightness, didn't rule out starting Saturday.REINSTATEDRangers 3B Asdrubal Cabrera went 0 for 3 with a walk in his return after serving a three-game suspension for hitting an umpire with equipment. Cabrera is hitless in his last 19 at-bats.JUST MISSED ITOdor was thrown out at the plate trying for an inside-the-park homer after his sixth-inning hit got past a diving left fielder Tommy Pham. After Pham ran down the ball, he threw it to third baseman Joey Wendle, who made an accurate throw home.UP NEXTRays two-way prospect Brendan McKay will make his major league debut Saturday against Rangers RHP Adrian Sampson (6-4). McKay was 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA in five games with Triple-A Durham, where he also got at-bats as the DH.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Rolling Rangers ride winning streak into Tampa BayFLMThe visiting Texas Rangers will go for their sixth straight win when they open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.Right-hander Lance Lynn (9-4, 4.32 ERA) pitches the opener for Texas against Tampa Bay right-hander Yonny Chirinos (7-3, 3.00) as the Rays open a 10-game homestand.Last time out, Lynn allowed five runs on six hits in seven innings while picking up a win against the Chicago White Sox. Lynn settled in after giving up four runs on four hits in the first inning. He retired 19 of the last 21 hitters he faced.Manager Chris Woodward praised Lynn's competitiveness."Because you get down 4-0 like that, he's one strike away from getting out of the first inning with no runs. ... A lot of guys kind of fold up at that point, they kind of just give in," Woodward said. "He had 40-something pitches after two and somehow he ends up going seven and gets the win." Prior to that outing, Lynn had gone at least six innings and given up three runs or fewer in eight straight starts.Lynn is looking to reach double digits in wins for the seventh straight season. He's 0-1 with a 4.87 ERA in four career games (three starts) against the Rays.Joey Gallo hit two solo homers, and Ariel Jurado threw seven shutout innings as the Rangers completed a three-game sweep of Detroit with a 3-1 win on Thursday to improve to a season-high nine games over .500."We're beating the teams we should beat, and we've beaten a lot of good teams in the process also," Woodward said. "We've got some tough series coming up, but I think that's a good thing."We set out from the beginning to be in the hunt and to get to the playoffs. Right now, we've got as good a chance as anybody." Tampa Bay's Chirinos has pitched in 16 games this season. His last six appearances have all been starts, and he's allowed three earned runs or fewer in five of them. On Saturday, he gave up two runs on six hits in six innings of a no-decision versus the Oakland Athletics.In his only previous start against Texas, Chirinos gave up six runs in 5 2/3 innings and took the loss.The Rays are coming home off a marathon, 18-inning, 5-2 victory over the Twins on Thursday in a game that lasted 5 hours and 42 minutes and was delayed at the start by rain.Yandy Diaz hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly as the Rays matched the longest game, innings-wise, in their history. Willy Adames and Ji-Man Choi added RBI singles as the Rays avoided being swept by the Twins for the first time in 13 years.The Rays finished their road trip with a 3-7 record and have lost 11 of their last 16 games."We got to the point where we'll take any win however we get them," manager Kevin Cash told reporters. "That was a challenge." Finding fresh arms in the bullpen will be a challenge on Friday as Tampa Bay used eight pitchers after opener Ryne Stanek worked two innings. The bullpen pitched 16 scoreless innings after Ryan Stanek allowed two first-inning runs.The Rays got third baseman Diaz back from the injured list after the minimum 10-day stay, and he went 0-for-7 in the cleanup spot. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier left the game in the second inning with tightness in his lower right leg and is day-to-day.--Field Level Media
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