John Jaso's two-out single in the eighth inning drove in the go-ahead run as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays toppled the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Saturday to stay alive in the American League Division Series.
Carlos Pena belted a two-run homer and Carl Crawford added a solo blast in the ninth as Tampa Bay sliced the Rangers' lead in the best-of-5 series to two games to one.
Joaquin Benoit (1-0) went 1 2/3 innings for the win to help the Rays force a Game 4 on Sunday afternoon at Rangers Ballpark.
Facing elimination after losing the first two games at home, the Rays got six-plus strong innings from Matt Garza and finally produced some clutch hitting.
B.J. Upton had an RBI double in the sixth and Dan Johnson had two hits, including a double to start the two-run rally in the eighth. Pena also had a tying RBI single in the eighth and scored the go-ahead run.
Jaso’s decisive hit and Crawford’s blast came off rookie closer Neftali Feliz. Darren Oliver (0-1) gave up two runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Garza allowed two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out four in six-plus innings.
Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz hit solo homers for the Rangers, giving them six in the series.
Texas starter Colby Lewis surrendered two hits with five walks and five strikeouts in five-plus innings.
Tampa Bay | Texas | |
Matt Garza | Player | Colby Lewis |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 5.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 5 |
5 | Hits | 2 |
1.50 | ERA | 0.00 |
Tampa Bay | Texas | |
Carlos Pena | Player | Ian Kinsler |
2 | Hits | 1 |
3 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 1 |
5 | TB | 4 |
.667 | Avg | .333 |