ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the priority is winning games when he was asked about the dugout reaction to Elias Díaz‘s grand slam on Friday night.
Elias Díaz hit the first Texas grand slam of the season in the seventh inning at Globe Life Field. The Rangers still lost 7-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“At this point of the season, it’s about winning games, and it’s as great as it was for Díaz, and it was a really good moment, and within one run felt good about keeping it there and giving ourselves a chance to score one run in the ninth,” Schumaker said. “It’s hard to score two against a closer, so try to do the best we could to keep it within one run and try to match up the best we could to keep it there to give our offense a chance.”
How Elias Díaz Cut The Deficit To One
Nick Martinez left with one out and two on in the seventh and Tampa Bay ahead 6-1. Garrett Cleavinger walked Cody Freeman, and Elias Díaz lined a 1-2 slider just over the left field fence to cut the lead to 6-5.
It was the fourth career grand slam for Elias Díaz. He finished with 5 RBIs and added a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning off Tyler Wells that made it 7-6.
Cleavinger came out after Justin Foscue singled, and Cam Booser got Corey Seager to ground into an inning-ending double play. Foscue popped out to end the game with the tying run at third and two outs.
Elias Díaz was not in the organization when the season began. Texas signed him off the free agent market after injuries to its catchers, and Schumaker credited the front office for the move before Friday’s game. Kyle Higashioka is on the 10-day injured list, and Danny Jansen and Logan O’Hoppe are also on the roster.
Elias Díaz caught Cal Quantrill through 7 scoreless innings in Thursday’s 6-0 win over the Rays.
How The Tampa Bay Rays Built The Lead
Ezequiel Duran led off the second inning Friday with a home run for a 1-0 lead. Jonathan Aranda answered with a solo shot in the third, and Richie Palacios homered with two outs in the fourth.
Yandy Díaz, Aranda, and Junior Caminero opened the fifth with three consecutive opposite-field doubles, and Tampa Bay scored four times in the inning off Kumar Rocker.
Rocker fell to 5-11 after allowing 6 runs, 5 of them earned, on 9 hits over 5 innings. He entered in the third behind openers Trevor Williams and Robby Ahlstrom.
Martinez improved to 14-4 and tied Drew Rasmussen for the Tampa Bay lead in wins. Bryan Baker walked the first two batters of the ninth and left the game with a trainer before Wells recorded his sixth save.
Tampa Bay had lost 10 straight road games against Texas before Friday. Texas fell to 70-72 and matched its largest deficit in the American League West this season at 3 games after Houston beat Arizona 3-1. Tampa Bay improved to 84-57. Rasmussen (14-5, 2.95 ERA) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay on Saturday against Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (10-9, 4.00) at Globe Life Field.
