Elvis Andrus homered early, and then snapped a 10th-inning tie with a two-out infield single that gave the struggling Texas Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.
Andrus, who homered in the first inning, hit a sharp grounder off Brad Boxberger (2-1) that forced Evan Longoria to make a diving stop. Pinch runner Delino Shields scored when the third baseman to was unable to complete the throw to first base.
Alex Claudio (2-0) pitched two innings in relief of Yu Darvish to help Texas stop a five-game losing streak. The left-hander gave up a leadoff single to Steven Souza Jr. in the 10th, but avoided further damage by getting Adeiny Hechavarria to bunt into a double play and Mallex Smith to fly out.
Rays starter Alex Cobb took a three-hitter and a 3-1 lead into the ninth, but couldn't finish off the Rangers, who erased their deficit with Joey Gallo's double and Shin-Soo Choo's 14th homer within a three-pitch span.
Other than allowing a trio of solo homers, Darvish was outstanding for the Rangers.
The All-Star right-hander yielded five hits, walked one and struck out 12 over eight innings, yet was in line to drop a career-high fifth consecutive decision before the Rangers rallied against Cobb in the ninth.
The Rays built their lead on homers by Brad Miller, Corey Dickerson and Smith, whose eighth-inning shot made it 3-1.
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Things shifted quickly when manager Kevin Cash decided against turning the game over to closer Alex Colome, who leads the AL with 26 saves, to begin the ninth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: Manager Jeff Banister said Joey Gallo, who has been slowed by a sore left hamstring, is not ready to play on a regular basis in the outfield. Gallo is playing first base and DH.
Rays: Souza, who injured his left hip sliding Wednesday, was out of the lineup but pinch-hit in the 10th. ... CF Kevin Kiermaier, who's missed 35 games with a broken right hip, says his rehab has been "pretty much pain free" and expects to return in early to mid-August.
NICE CROWD
Attendance was announced as 24,461, up nearly 9,000 from Tampa Bay's average home attendance of 15,681, which ranks last in the majors. Friday was the first time the Rays played a home game after the All-Star break while in playoff contention since Sept. 23, 2013. They went on win a Game 163 tiebreaker to claim a wild-card berth that season.
UP NEXT
Rangers RHP Andrew Cashner (4-8), who's 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA in two starts this month, goes against Rays RHP Chris Archer (7-5) Saturday night. Archer has worked at least six innings in 11 consecutive starts, the longest streak of his career.
