 gave up three hits during an 80-pitch outing. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner had an 11.94 ERA (17 1/3 innings, 23 earned runs) in five previous starts this month.Tommy Pham homered for the Rays, who won consecutive games for the first time since June 9-10. The first AL wild card leaders went 13-16 in June.Four Tampa Bay relievers completed a four-hitter.Texas got a two-run homer from Joey Gallo.After Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI single and Willy Adames added a run-scoring single off Jesse Chavez (3-3) the fourth, Pham's fifth-inning solo shot made it 4-2.Chavez allowed four runs and five hits in six innings.Kiermaier had an RBI triple in a two-run eighth.Gallo's two-run homer in the fourth off Snell got stuck on the ''D-Ring'' catwalk, which is approximately 70-feet above the right-field seats.The only other ball remaining on that catwalk was hit by Boston's David Ortiz on Sept. 17, 2008.Gallo had the only Texas hit through three innings, a leadoff bunt single in the second against a shift that had four outfielders and three infielders on the first-base side of second.He was thrown out on another bunt attempt in the seventh with a runner on first and no outs, and Texas trailing 4-2.Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected by plate umpire Bruce Dreckman in the second for arguing after Avisail Garcia took a called third strike.MORE McKAYRays two-way player Brendan McKay could hit before the All-Star break. ''If there's an opportunity to get him in there where we feel it's a fit with his workload we'll do that,'' manager Kevin Cash said. McKay allowed one hit in six innings Saturday to get the win in his debut against Texas and is scheduled to pitch against the New York Yankees Friday night.TRAINER'S ROOMRangers: 2B Rougned Odor, hurt Friday running the bases, was scratched due to lingering left hamstring tightness but pinch-hit in the ninth. ... 3B Asdrubal Cabrera sat out with lower back tightness.UP NEXTRangers: AL ERA leader Mike Minor (8-4, 2.40) will face Los Angeles Angels LHP Jose Suarez (2-1) Monday night. Minor has gone eight-or-more innings, including a complete game Wednesday at Detroit, while allowing one run in two straight starts.Rays: A starter for Monday night's game against Baltimore has not been announced. Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy (3-10) looks to stop a four-game skid in which he has allowed 15 runs over 20 1/3 innings.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Snell looks to right ship in Rays-Rangers finaleFLMTampa Bay left-hander and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell looks to get back on track Sunday and help the Rays win their series against the visiting Texas Rangers.Right-hander Jesse Chavez (3-2, 2.79 ERA) of the Rangers opposes Snell (4-7, 5.01) in the finale.Snell will be happy to see the calendar page turn to July. In five June starts, he has an 11.94 ERA, allowing at least six runs in three of five outings. On Tuesday, he gave up seven runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings of a loss to the Twins.Relying on his fastball, Snell got through the first two innings while allowing just a run but was touched for three in the third and three more in the fourth."I want to succeed so bad," Snell told MLB.com. "And for me to not succeed the way I want to, it's tough. It's tough to sleep. It's tough to do things right and still do wrong. It's very tough."But I know how good I am, and I know with how hard I work that I know I'm going to come through this and be a better player from it." Facing the Rangers may help Snell regain his form. He's 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA in two career starts versus Texas, both coming last year.Chavez, usually employed as a long reliever, allowed one unearned run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings of a win against Detroit on Tuesday. He struck out seven and induced eight groundouts in what was his first traditional start of the season"I try to rely on location, as much as I can -- and some days I have it, some days I don't," Chavez told reporters afterward. "Today, I did." Chavez has allowed one earned run over 14 1/3 innings in his past three appearances. During that stretch, he's struck out 14 batters without a walk.He's 0-1 with a 2.79 ERA in nine career appearances (one start) against the Rays.Tampa Bay evened the series on Saturday thanks to Brendan McKay, who took a perfect game into the sixth inning in his major league debut. McKay went six innings and gave one hit and a walk while striking out three in the Rays' 5-2 win."The way he carried himself, it was kind of unflappable," manager Kevin Cash told reporters. "You would not have thought, if you just picked up and turned on the TV, that that was his first major league start. He picked us up in a big way." Avisail Garcia, Willy Adames and Travis d'Arnaud homered for the Rays, who had lost three of their previous four games.Asdrubal Cabrera and Joey Gallo each doubled and scored a run for the Rangers, who had won six straight. Texas can complete a 5-1 road trip with a win on Sunday."I tell our guys every day that it's the most important game of the year, because it's the only one we can win," Rangers manager Chris Woodward told reporters. "We're not going to worry about the day after tomorrow, we're going to worry about tomorrow. And (Sunday) is a big game. ... To beat these guys two out of three would be a great way to go home before the (All-Star) break." --Field Level Media
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