Rays Outslug Rangers in Extras

Corey Seager of the Rangers tagging out Victor Mesa Jr. of the Rays

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

September 5, 2026

Rays 6, Rangers 3 (10 Innings)

ARLINGTON, Texas (Sep 5) — The Texas Rangers dropped the third game in their four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays, 6–3, in extra innings Saturday in front of a crowd of 31,657. Junior Caminero, Richie Palacios, and Jonathan Aranda guided the Rays to the win with one long ball apiece. The Rangers will go for the series split in a Sunday matinee with first pitch set for 1:35 pm Central at Globe Life Field. It will be a duel of left-handers as Ian Seymour (9–6, 4.21 ERA) goes up against MacKenzie Gore (8–10, 4.31 ERA).

Rangers — Rays Game Summary

The Rays broke the seal early in the top of the first with Jacob deGrom on the mound.. With two outs, Caminero stepped in and sent one to the Rays’ bullpen in center, his 38th of the year.

They extended their lead to 2–0 in the top of the fifth, once again with two away. With a count of 2–0, Palacios hit one five rows deep into the seats in right for his eighth bomb of the season.

The Rangers cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth off Drew Rasmussen. Danny Jansen opened the inning with a pop up to Palacios at second. Up next was Joc Pederson, who crushed the first pitch he saw. The baseball almost reached the lower concourse in right. It was his 25th blast of the campaign.

The Rays scored again in the top of the eighth against reliever Jakob Junis. Aranda reached on a two-out single to left and Caminero followed with a single to right. Up next was Liam Hicks, who drove in Aranda by lining a single to left.

The Rangers tied it 3–3 in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Kevin Kelly. Evan Carter led off the frame by launching a 1–0 pitch to right-center for his ninth dinger of the season. After Cody Freeman grounded to short, Jansen singled to left and was lifted for pinch-runner Cam Cauley. Rays manager Kevin Cash made a move of his own when he brought in Cam Booser to relieve Kelly. Justin Foscue, pinch-hitting for Pederson, scored Cauley with a single up the middle.

Free Baseball

With the score knotted at three in the top of the 10th, Jorge Mateo jogged out to second to serve as the Rays’ automatic runner. With reliever Jacob Latz pitching, Taylor Walls advanced Mateo to third with a sacrifice bunt to Freeman at third. Up next was Yandy Diaz, whom Latz intentionally walked. On deck was Aranda, who incited a synchronized scream from the fans still in attendance with a three-run shot to right-center, his 19th of the season.

Tyler Wells, who pitched the bottom of the ninth, tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to close out the win for the Rays.

What Went Right for the Rays

The Rays kept the Rangers on their toes on Saturday. Most of the heavy lifting was done by Caminero, Palacios, and Aranda with their home runs. Hicks’ RBI single in the eighth was a nice addition as well.

What Went Wrong for the Rays

Pederson and Carter both stand out in the box score with their home runs, but Foscue’s RBI single was responsible for getting the game to extra innings.

No-Decision for deGrom

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom turned in a quality start but did not factor into the decision. His final line was 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 90 pitches/66 strikes.

deGrom yielded the first-inning solo home run to Caminero. He has allowed 27 runs and 10 homers in the first frame this year, most in the majors. After Caminero’s long ball, deGrom limited the Rays to a 2-for-12 clip until giving up another solo shot to Palacios in the third. He had strung together 11 straight starts without allowing multiple moonshots entering Saturday. He allowed two total home runs during that span.

After surrendering Aranda’s home run, the loss went to Latz, who now owns a 3–2 record with a 1.88 ERA.

Rasmussen’s Outing

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen came away with a no-decision on Saturday. His line was 7 IP with 3 H, 1 R-ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Rasmussen retired the first 10 batters he faced. He allowed a bloop single to Corey Seager with one down in the fourth. The first blemish against Rasmussen came on the solo blast by Pederson in the sixth down the line in right. Rasmussen surrendered his 14th home run of 2026 as he entered Saturday’s contest with a 0.80 HR/9 (fifth among AL qualifiers).

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker gave his take. “That’s just a tough loss, quite honestly”, he stated. “We fought back against a really good pitcher. We had our chances with runners in scoring position with our big guys up and we couldn’t knock them in. Their guys in the middle of the order have hurt us this series so far, (Junior) Caminero and (Jonathan) Aranda have done some damage against us and we got to just make sure they’re not beating us.”