Drew Rasmussen extended his scoreless innings streak to 23 after striking out eight batters over five frames, fueling the host Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
Rasmussen (5-4) recorded his fourth straight win after allowing just one hit: Jake Burger’s infield single to lead off the third inning.
Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero and Kameron Misner hit solo homers and Jake Mangum had an RBI single.
Yandy Diaz scored on a wild pitch and joined Jonathan Aranda in recording two of the eight hits for the Rays, who have won 10 of their last 13 games.
Four relievers bridged the gap to Pete Fairbanks, who retired the side in order in the ninth.
Burger had an RBI single in the seventh inning for the Rangers, who mustered just four hits to fall to 9-19 on the road this season.
Texas’ Evan Carter went 0-for-1 in his return to the lineup before being replaced by Sam Haggerty. Carter had been sidelined since May 16 with a Grade 2 strain of his right quadriceps.
Misner deposited a 0-2 fastball from Tyler Mahle (5-3) over the wall in left field with one out in the second inning to open the scoring. Misner’s homer was his fifth of the season and first since May 15.
Tampa Bay extended its advantage in the sixth inning after loading the bases against Mahle before reliever Jacob Latz uncorked a wild pitch that sailed to the backstop to score Diaz. Mangum’s infield single plated Aranda, and Caminero scored from third on a double-steal to stake the Rays to a 4-0 lead.
That closed the book on Mahle, who permitted four runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Caminero answered Burger’s RBI single by sending a first-pitch fastball from Codi Heuer over the wall in left-center field in the eighth inning. The homer was Caminero’s team-leading 14th of the season and fifth in his last six games.
