TAMPA, FLORIDA — The Texas Rangers couldn’t recover from an early five-run hole and came up short in a 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
Despite a late push sparked by Jonah Heim’s two-run homer in the fifth and Wyatt Langford’s RBI double, the Rangers’ offense stalled in key moments. Down one with the bases loaded and two outs, Josh Jung struck out to end the inning and the Rangers’ best chance to tie or take the lead.
Kumar Rocker, returning from the injured list, struggled in his first start back. He allowed five earned runs across just 3 1/3 innings. The biggest blow came in the third, where Tampa Bay strung together a four-run frame that featured back-to-back doubles and RBI singles before a misplay at first extended the inning and cost Texas another run.
Langford, who had a strong showing at the plate, also made a highlight-reel move in the sixth by hurdling a defender to beat a throw on a fielding error.
Texas, now 4-11 in its last 15 games, continues to search for consistency on the mound and in late-game execution.
They’ll close the series on Thursday with Jack Leiter (4-2, 3.66 ERA) facing off against Tampa Bay’s Ryan Pepiot (3-5, 3.21 ERA). The game wraps up the second leg of a nine-game road stretch for the Rangers.
