Cron had two hits and Daniel Robertson and Denard Span had RBI doubles to help right-hander Jake Faria to his first victory of the season as the Rays (5-13) avoided the worst start in franchise history. Span leads the Rays with 11 RBIs.
Faria (1-1) gave up five hits and one run in six innings, with six strikeouts and one walk. He had not won in 11 appearances since beating Baltimore on June 25, 2017, despite two starts earlier this season in which he gave up one or fewer runs.
Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo hit his fifth homer of the season and Adrian Beltre had two singles for the Rangers (7-13), who had won three of four.
Beltre and Joey Gallo walked to open the ninth inning before Drew Robinson's one-out single made it 4-2. Pinch hitter Ronald Guzman grounded into a double play as Alex Colome got his fourth save in six changes.
Left-hander Cole Hamels (1-3) gave up seven hits and four runs in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. The Rangers have scored 12 runs in his five starts.
Choo homered with one out in the third inning to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, his second homer in as many games after breaking an 0-for-17 slump on Monday.
Brandon Snyder had a two-out double in the third inning, the Rays' first base runner off Hamels, who hadn't allowed a run until the Rays scored three times in the sixth inning.
Johnny Field singled to open the inning and scored on Robertson's double into the left-field corner. Robertson took third on the play at the plate before Carlos Gomez was hit by a pitch for the second straight game. Cron dropped a single into center field to drive in Robertson and send Gomez to third.
Adeiny Hechavarria hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Gomez for a 3-1 lead, and Span doubled in a run in the seventh, knocking out Hamels.
--Field Level Media
Texas | Tampa Bay | |
Cole Hamels | Player | Jake Faria |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.1 | IP | 6.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 6 |
7 | Hits | 5 |
5.68 | ERA | 1.50 |
Texas | Tampa Bay | |
Adrian Beltre | Player | C.J. Cron |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 2 |
.667 | Avg | .500 |