ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Taylor Walls homered, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a six-hitter and the Rays beat the Texas Rangers 5-1.
Tampa Bay remained 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the top AL wild card.
The Rays hold a 5 1/2-game advantage over Baltimore, which is fourth in the race for the three wild cards. Jonah Heim homered and Jon Gray allowed two runs and two hits over 4 1/3 innings in his second start since returning from a left oblique strain for Texas. The Rangers fell to 63-82 and were assured their sixth consecutive losing season. It extends the longest streak since the team moved to Texas from Washington in 1972.