For the second consecutive night the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers needed extra innings to decide a winner at Tropicana Field, but Saturday the Rays came out on the bitter end after pitcher Kyle Farnsworth allowed the go-ahead runs in the 10th inning of a 4-2 loss.
Farnsworth began the inning by inducing consecutive ground-ball outs to shortstop Ben Zobrist, but Geovany Soto got things started for the Rangers with a double off the glove of center fielder B.J. Upton. Jurickson Profar followed with a double of his own, scoring Soto to put the Rangers up 3-2. A walk to Ian Kinsler and single by Elvis Andrus loaded the bases for Josh Hamilton, but Farnsworth hit the Rangers slugger with a first-pitch slider to force in another run before striking out Adrian Beltre to end the inning. Rangers closer Joe Nathan came on to record the save, striking out Carlos Pena with a borderline pitch to end the game. Pena was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing the called third strike.
The loss spoiled an excellent start by Chris Archer, who threw seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball while striking out 11. Rangers starter Yu Darvish was equally masterful, striking out eight in eight innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits.
Sunday's rubber match is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET.
Stay with this StoryStream for more on the the Rays vs. Rangers series. For more coverage of the Rays, check out DRays Bay. Head over to SB Nation's baseball hub for all things major league baseball.