Field Level Media
Sep 18, 2022
Christian Bethancourt and Jose Siri hit back-to-back homers in the host Tampa Bay Rays' 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The duo went deep in the second inning for a 2-1 lead that the Rays (82-64) never relinquished.
Bethancourt went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Siri was 2-for-3 with a run, RBI, walk and stolen base. Yandy Diaz posted two hits and a run.
Jeffrey Springs (9-4) allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six without issuing a walk.
Pete Fairbanks fanned two in a perfect ninth for his eighth save in as many chances.
Rookie Josh Jung was 2-for-4 with a homer, run and two RBIs, and Corey Seager also went deep for the Rangers (63-83), who had just six hits for the second straight game.
Glenn Otto (6-9) was tagged for four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. He fanned three without a walk but allowed the two homers
In their final meeting with the Rays, the Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Jung lifted a towering fly to left field.
With a 40-degree launch angle, it eventually found a landing spot a couple of rows into the stands for his third homer in his 10th career major league game.
But Bethancourt and Siri matched Jung's power display with consecutive blasts of their own in the bottom half of the inning to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
On a four-seam fastball, Bethancourt launched a 420-foot solo shot to center for his 11th homer. Two pitches later, Siri ripped a slider out to left for his third long ball.
In a productive third that led to a 4-1 lead, the home side peppered Otto for three straight hits from Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Manuel Margot to tally twice.
Seager led off the sixth with a 422-foot blast to right for his 31st homer of the season. Texas notched a second run when Adolis Garcia was caught in a rundown but went to third on Aranda's fielding error on a throw to second. Garcia then scored on Jung's single.
Taylor Walls pushed the advantage back to two runs at 5-3 with a bases-load walk in the sixth inning.
--Field Level Media