Rangers' Jordan Montgomery shuts down Rays to take Game 1 in wild card series

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Jordan Montgomery scattered six hits over seven innings, helping the Texas Rangers beat the sloppy Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 Tuesday in their AL Wild Card Series opener.

Corey Seager and Josh Jung drove in runs and the Rangers benefited from four errors by the Rays, who also fizzled offensively before a crowd of just 19,704 — roughly 5,300 below listed capacity — at Tropicana Field.

Texas moved within a victory of an AL Division Series matchup against Baltimore.

Tampa Bay, wearing throwback Devil Rays jerseys in the style of 1998-2000, lost its sixth straight postseason game since winning its 2021 Division Series opener against Boston. The Rays have reached the postseason for the fifth straight season but have one run in their last three playoff defeats, hitting .133.

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Jordan Montgomery #52 of the Texas Rangers reacts at the end of the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays during Game One of the Wild Card Series at Tropicana Field on October 03, 2023 in St Petersburg, Florida.  (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Montgomery, a 30-year-old left-hander acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline, retired 14 of hos last 16 batters. He fanned pinch hitter Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay's top minor league prospect, to end his outing with five strikeouts and no walks.

Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect eighth and José Leclerc worked around a walk in the ninth to finish a six-hitter.

Tyler Glasnow (0-1) yielded a sacrifice fly to Jung in the second inning, and the right-hander's wild pitch allowed Texas to score its second run after the Rangers loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth.

Texas, 1 for 6