Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

Casey Legumina got the ball for Tampa Bay off the back of a shaky last outing, just 2.0 innings against Toronto with a walk and a run allowed. MacKenzie Gore came in for Texas hoping to snap out of a brutal July, and the early returns weren't kind. The Rays put up 3 runs in the first inning and never needed another, riding that cushion the rest of the way in the 6:40 PM ET series game.

MacKenzie Gore

(6-9)·4.43 ERA

Jul 24 vs Mariners

ND

5.0IP

3ER

5K

2BB

96P

07/29 Lineup

Casey Legumina

(2-2)·4.09 ERA

Jul 23 @ Blue Jays

ND

2.0IP

1ER

2K

2BB

40P

07/29 Lineup

Texas is already piecing together a lineup without Corey Seager, Josh Jung, Danny Jansen and Kyle Higashioka, so any hiccup at the top of the order gets magnified fast. Tampa Bay isn't at full strength either — Jake Fraley and Gavin Lux are both still working back from setbacks on rehab assignments, and the Rays just placed Cole Sulser on the IL with back spasms hours before first pitch. Neither club is playing with its ideal roster right now.

Still, the Rays have been finding ways to win low-scoring games all month, and that formula held up again. The gap between these two teams in the standings is real, and nights like this are exactly how Tampa Bay keeps padding it.

Texas Rangers

(55-52)

07/28W@Rays4-1

07/27WvsMariners7-3

07/26LvsMariners4-6

07/25WvsMariners7-1

07/25WvsMariners5-4

Tampa Bay Rays

(62-44)

07/28LvsRangers1-4

07/26WvsGuardians1-0

07/25WvsGuardians3-0

07/24WvsGuardians11-3

07/23L@Blue Jays1-3

That first inning was really the whole ballgame. Gore couldn't survive it clean, and once the Rays banked those 3 runs, the Texas offense never found an answer — 0 runs on 4 hits is about as quiet as a lineup gets, even a shorthanded one. Legumina and the bullpen behind him did the rest, mixing arms to keep Texas off the board the entire way.

It's a sharp turnaround from the night before, when these same two teams played a 4-1 game that went the other way. That's the nature of a short series — form flips fast, and Wednesday belonged entirely to Tampa Bay's pitching staff.