Langford and Heim have 4 hits each as Rangers rout Rays 13-2 for 3-game sweep

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Wyatt Langford Leads Rangers To Sweep Over Rays
Texas Rangers' Wyatt Langford, left, follows through on a single as Tampa Bay Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt, right, looks on in the eighth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Wyatt Langford and Jonah Heim matched career highs with four hits, Corey Seager had a three-run homer and the Texas Rangers batted around twice in a 13-2 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday that finished a three-game sweep.

Texas matched its season high with 19 hits, sending nine batters to the plate in both the fourth and fifth innings.

Nathan Eovaldi (6-3) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, improving to 5-0 with a .166 opponents’ batting average at home.

Defending World Series champion Texas has won eight of its last 10 home games and is 24-21 at Globe Life Field but 18-27 on the road.

Tampa Bay was swept in a three-game series for the first time this season, getting outscored 20-5.

Langford had an RBI double in the first inning, singled to start a six-run fourth and three-run fifth, then singled again in the eighth. The 22-year-old rookie hit cleanup for the second time this season with Texas’ regular No. 4 hitter, Adolis García, given what Rangers manager Bruce Bochy called a mental day amid a 2-for-18 slide.

Heim homered, doubled and had two singles with two RBIs.

Travis Jankowski had two hits and three RBIs. He had a swinging bunt up the first base line in the fifth that hugged the chalk and stayed fair and drove in two runs.

Pinch-hitter Robbie Grossman had a solo homer in the seventh against Colin Poche.

José Caballero hit a two-run homer in the third, Tampa Bay got a three-run homer from Yandy Díaz in Saturday’s 4-3 loss.

Zack Littell (3-6) allowed seven runs and nine hits in four innings. Shawn Armstrong, the first of four Rays relievers, gave up the three runs and five hits in the fifth.

UP NEXT

Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (4-5, 4.40 ERA), with one win since April, will face New York Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón (9-6, 4.45) on Tuesday night to begin a six-game homestand.

Rangers RHP Jon Gray (3-4, 3.92), 0-2 in seven road starts, will open a six-game trip on Monday night against Los Angeles Angels rookie RHP Davis Daniel (1-1, 2.70), who will make his third big league start.

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