Tampa Bay Rays edge Texas Rangers 7‑6 behind Aranda, Martinez

ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — Jonathan Aranda homered and doubled, drove in two runs, and Nick Martinez allowed three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 on Friday. Tampa Bay scored single runs in the third, fourth and ninth innings, but its biggest output came in the fifth, when four runs crossed the plate to open a 6-1 lead. Texas had taken a 1-0 lead in the second on Ezequiel Duran’s solo homer, then pulled within 6-5 in the seventh on Elias Diaz’s grand slam. Diaz finished 1 for 3 with five RBIs. Richie Palacios homered for Tampa Bay in the fourth, and Junior Caminero had two hits and scored twice. Tampa Bay outhit Texas 12-7. Martinez (14-4) struck out four and walked none. Tyler Wells pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Kumar Rocker (5-11) took the loss as the Rangers fell to 70-72. Tampa Bay improved to 84-58. Attendance was 25,584; time of game was 2:58.