Rangers eager to continue ascent in rematch vs. Rays

The Texas Rangers will have a rested bullpen and some growing confidence when they play the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night in the second contest of a four-game series in Arlington, Texas.

The Rangers (70-71) won the series opener 6-0 on Thursday behind seven shutout innings from right-hander Cal Quantrill, who continues to pile up zeros.

It was the third time in his past four outings that he threw at least six shutout innings.

"What he provided (Thursday) night, not only for the win, but relieved our bullpen a little bit as well," Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. "Providing length and a win, that was huge."

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash wasn't happy with the at-bats against Quantrill and the resulting loss, which narrowed the Rays' lead atop the American League East to three games over of the New York Yankees.

"A lot of strikes, early strikes, super efficient," Cash said of Quantrill. "Looked up three innings in, and I think he had 30-something pitches right there. We've got to have some better at-bats and put a little more pressure on him. But, saying that, he pitched a heck of a ballgame and really didn't give us much choice but to swing because he was in the strike zone so much. We just couldn't do much with the stuff."

There were plenty of other things Schumaker liked about the fourth win in the past five games for the Rangers, who moved a half-game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the race for the final wild-card spot in the American League.

Corey Seager hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to turn a two-run lead into a four-run cushion for Quantrill. Ezequiel Duran had a clutch two-out RBI single right before Seager's homer, and Texas' Justin Foscue drove in the first run of the game with a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning.

"It's a good start against a really good team, obviously, in a four-game set," Schumaker said. "We need every win we can get."

It likely will be up to right-hander Kumar Rocker to lead the Texas pitching staff on Friday. Right-hander Trevor Williams (0-0, 3.93 ERA), who signed with the Rangers on Tuesday after being released by the Washington Nationals, is scheduled to be Texas' opener on Friday, but Rocker is projected to be the bulk reliever.

Rocker (5-10, 4.44 ERA) struggled during most of August, going 1-2 in six starts with a 6.00 ERA. He lasted just three innings last Sunday, allowing two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in his team's 7-4 win against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Rocker has made two starts against the Rays in his career, posting a 0-1 record with a 6.48 ERA.

Tampa Bay (83-57) plans to counter with right-hander Nick Martinez, who played for the Rangers his first four seasons from 2014-17.

More recently, Martinez (13-4, 2.99 ERA) strung together another solid month in August, going 3-1 in five starts with a 3.86 ERA that was blown up by one bad outing on Aug. 18 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Martinez most recently limited the San Diego Padres to three runs and seven hits in six innings but did not factor into the decision in his team's 7-6 win last Saturday.

He has made just two relief appearances against the Rangers in his career, allowing two runs in two innings.