Texas @ Tampa Bay preview
George M. Steinbrenner Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 4, 2025 ) Texas 4, Tampa Bay 5
The Tampa Bay Rays and visiting Texas Rangers are trending in opposite directions, and the Rays will look to work that advantage for a sweep of their three-game series on Thursday night.
Brandon Lowe swung the hot bat in the 5-4 victory Wednesday night by the Rays, who improved to 11-3 in their past 14 games and moved to three games above .500 for the season.
A key for Tampa Bay has been playing better in its new home.
The club struggled early playing outdoors on the other side of the bay from its domed home in St. Petersburg, but that has changed.
The Rays have won nine of their past 10 games at home in Tampa and five consecutive series there. They moved to 20-19 in their new park with Wednesday's victory.
"It's in our city; we have to start playing better here," said Lowe, who went 3-for-4 with a homer, double and two RBIs. "Everybody knew it. Something just happened, and we started winning."
Ryan Pepiot (3-5, 3.21 ERA), who will start for the Rays on Thursday, has pitched better than his record would indicate.
Despite going just 1-2 in six starts last month, the right-hander posted a 2.25 ERA and an 0.94 WHIP, buoyed by a 22-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 36 innings while yielding only 26 hits.
In his lone appearance against the Rangers on April 1 of last season, they roughed up Pepiot for six runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings in Tampa Bay's 9-3 loss. Josh Jung hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Pepiot.
While the Rangers are third in the majors in team ERA (3.17), their hitting has gone into a funk much of the time.
The club is 28th in team batting average (.222) and tied for 17th in homers with three teams at 61.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was encouraged by a three-run fifth inning Wednesday, and Wyatt Langford's three-hit night stood out.
"Lot of good things happened (offensively)," said Bochy, whose club has won only four times in its past 15 games. "We started swinging the bats well and put runners on base. We got four runs, which is what you're hoping to do, maybe five. Overall, I thought the bats were better tonight."
The Rangers will look to get back on track Thursday behind Jack Leiter (4-2, 3.66 ERA), who is 2-0 in his last four outings.
He is coming off a May in which he went 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in six starts, numbers that were a step down from his performance in April. However, his most recent start at home against the St. Louis Cardinals was the right-hander's best of 2025.
Last Friday, Leiter scattered three hits and struck out six in 5 2/3 scoreless innings as Texas rolled to an 11-1 win. The No. 2 overall selection out of Vanderbilt in the 2021 draft will make his first career start against the Rays.
--Field Level Media