Josh Jung hit a 3-run home run in the first inning and Adolis Garcia added a solo shot in the eighth — his 100th career homer — as the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-3 on Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
But the news was not all good for Jung and the Rangers.
After going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, Jung exited in the ninth inning after being hit in the hand with an 87-mph sinker on a swing attempt. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters after game Jung suffered a broken wrist but would only say the third baseman would be out “a little while.”
Corey Seager reached base three times Jared Walsh tacked on an RBI single for Texas, which played its first away game since going 11-0 on the road throughout the 2023 playoffs en route to the franchise’s first World Series title.
Rangers starting pitcher Dane Dunning (1-0) was sharp throughout most of his season debut, allowing one hit over six innings before surrendering two home runs in the seventh. The right-hander finished with three earned runs, seven strikeouts and four walks over 6 1/3 innings.
Jose Siri and Richie Palacios each homered for Tampa Bay, which managed five hits and lost its sixth straight to Texas, including a two-game sweep in the wild-card round last season.
The defending World Series champions struck quickly in their first road game of 2024.
Marcus Semien and Seager each drew a walk to start the game before Jung clubbed Ryan Pepiot’s changeup 387 feet over the wall in left-center field with two outs to propel Texas ahead 3-0.
Making his Rays debut, Pepiot (0-1) settled down after his 31-pitch first inning, retiring 11 of the next 13 batters until the Rangers added on in the sixth.
Seager singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on Evan Carter’s walk. Garcia’s flyout to deep left center moved Seager to third before Jung singled him home to make it 4-0.
Chris Devenski relieved Pepiot with two outs and watched Carter score from third after catcher Rene Pinto threw into center field trying to cut down Jung, who stole second base.
Jung advanced to third on Pinto’s error and scored Texas’ sixth run on Walsh’s single.
Palacios’ solo shot in the seventh inning gave the Rays their first run, and Siri connected on a two-run blast two batters later. David Robertson replaced Dunning to settle Tampa Bay, which struck out 12 times.
Garcia clobbered his third home run of the season in the eighth and earned a painful RBI in the ninth when he took an 89-mph fastball from Phil Maton to the hand with the bases loaded.
–Field Level Media