TAMPA -- The Rangers were on the brink of a solid road victory Thursday night. Then it transformed into an inexplicable catastrophe.
The Rays scored three times in the ninth inning and escaped with a 4-3 comeback win to complete a three-game sweep, ending it on a two-run walk-off infield single.
Read that again: A two-run walk-off infield single.
“You’ve got to put this behind you,’’ said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, whose club has lost eight of its past nine road games. “Turn the page. This one got away, and there’s nothing to do about it. There’s no point even dwelling on it. It’s over.’’
So what happened?
It was 3-2 Rangers, bases loaded, two outs in the ninth, left-hander Robert Garcia on the mound. Garcia coaxed Taylor Walls into the ground ball he wanted, a bouncer in the hole between first base and second.
First baseman Josh Smith, thinking that second baseman Marcus Semien was shaded too far near the middle, aggressively dove to his right, but had no real chance.
Semien raced to his left and fielded the ball. He quickly looked to first base, but Garcia was late leaving the mound to cover the bag. Semien quickly re-evaluated, but Jonathan Aranda already had scored the tying run.
Then this shocker: Junior Caminero rounded third and kept on chugging toward the plate. Semien fired it to catcher Jonah Heim. Caminero’s elusive slide beat the tag attempt and the Rays had won in breathless fashion.
In the clubhouse, Rangers starter Jack Leiter, who pitched brilliantly over five innings, could hardly believe what he witnessed on television.
“It’s the heartbreaking part of baseball,’’ Leiter said. “Rob is making good pitches and the balls in play are just finding holes or weird places. The Rays make it tough on you with their speed on the bases. It’s a fluky kind of thing. It sucks. But, you know, baseball.’’
Such a bizarre finish prompted so many questions.
Why did Smith sell out and dive for the ball?
“That’s a super in-between ball,’’ Smith said. “Anything softly hit to my right that I felt I could get, I’d have to make an effort for it. I’m trying to be aggressive. Hindsight, I wish I wouldn’t have. But I personally think if I had to do it again, I’m still going for the ball. Because if, for some reason Marcus doesn’t get there and the ball gets through, it’s game over. I still think I need to err on the side of being aggressive.’’
What did Semien think after fielding the ball?
“I tried my best to see if I could throw it to Garcia [covering first], but I felt like he [Walls] was going to be safe,’’ said Semien, whose 3-for-4 night (with two solo home runs) became a footnote.
Why didn’t Garcia go harder to cover first?
“I didn’t trust my eyes after I made the pitch [to Walls],’’ Garcia said. “I saw where it was hit, but I assumed [a play would be made]. I should have gotten over there. I tried to. It’s just [bad].’’
How did Semien react when Caminero had rounded third?
“I shifted my eyes to see what’s going on at third, but Caminero just made a great play,’’ Semien said. “His speed took over. When I threw it, I felt like he was going to be out. He had a great burst and a great slide. The whole thing was just, I don’t know, unusual.’’
Backing up, there was yet another second-guess moment. With runners at first and second, two outs, Christopher Morel hit a screamer to third baseman Josh Jung. He initially looked for a forceout at second -- Caminero broke on contact, so there was no shot at him -- and that moment of hesitation gave him no chance at firing to possibly get Morel at first. The bases were loaded.
All of which set up a frantic finish.
“Is this rock bottom?’’ Semien said. “No, we still have a lot of baseball to play. We wanted to come out of here with a win. But our attitude needs to be, 'Let’s win the next game.' We’re not going to dwell on this. We’re flushing it.
“But is it frustrating?’’
Semien left the question hanging.
He felt no need to offer the obvious answer.