Jordan Montgomery tossed seven scoreless innings to lift the visiting Texas Rangers to a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday in Game 1 of their American League wild-card series in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Making his third postseason appearance, Montgomery (1-0) scattered six hits and struck out five batters without issuing a walk.
Corey Seager had an RBI single among his two hits and Evan Carter reached base four times (two hits, two walks) for the fifth-seeded Rangers, who took advantage of a franchise playoff-record four errors by Tampa Bay.
Texas will look to wrap up the best-of-three series with another win on the road in Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon.
Josh Jung plated Nathaniel Lowe on a sacrifice fly in the second inning and Seager scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Seager’s RBI single to center in the sixth inning plated Carter, and Rays center fielder Jose Siri’s throw toward third base sailed into the dugout to allow Marcus Semien to score.
Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena had a double among his two hits while playing in front of his mom for the first time in his career. Arozarena’s mom, Sandra Gonzalez, made the trip from Mexico and arrived in Florida on Monday. She also threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game.
Taylor Walls also had two hits for the fourth-seeded Rays.
Lowe singled off Tyler Glasnow (0-1) to open the second inning and advanced to third on Leody Taveras’ base hit. Lowe scored after Jung’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Seager doubled to lead off the fifth before Texas quickly loaded the bases. Glasnow retired the next batter, but his wild pitch allowed Seager to score and give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
Glasnow walked both Carter and Semien to begin the sixth inning before exiting the game. Chris Devenski relieved Glasnow and permitted Seager’s single to center that ultimately doubled the advantage for Texas.
Montgomery let out a primal scream after walking off the mound following a strikeout of Junior Caminero to end the seventh inning.
Aroldis Chapman retired the side in order in the eighth inning and Jose Leclerc worked the ninth to seal the win.
Glasnow was saddled with the loss after yielding four runs (three earned) on six hits with five walks in five innings. He struck out eight.
–Field Level Media