ST. PETERSBURG (620 WDAE) -- Yonny Chirinos experienced his first hiccup of his big league career Tuesday night, allowing six runs in 5 2/3 innings as the Texas Rangers evened the series with the Tampa Bay Rays with a 7-2 decision at Tropicana Field.
CHIRINOS HAS RECORD SCORELESS STREAK END EARLY: The Rays right-hander had not allowed a run an a franchise record 14 1/3 innings to begin his career, but saw his streak come to an end in the very first inning, as he allowed a walk to Shin-Soo Choo, a base hit to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and C.J. Cron's error loaded the bases and Adrian Beltre's sacrifice fly made it a 1-0 game.
Choo made it 2-0 in the second with a sacrifice fly of his own, scoring Drew Robinson.
After Tampa Bay cut the deficit back to 2-1 in the third, Texas opened the game back up in the fifth, as Beltre made it 3-1 with another sacrifice fly and Ronald Guzman's two-run double extended it to a 5-1 contest.
Chirinos' night ended with two out in the sixth, when Choo hit a solo homer to right-center, a 446 foot blast off the D-ring catwalk, for a 6-1 lead.
MOORE CHANNELS OLD SUCCESS AT TROP: Matt Moore had never faced the Rays in his career, having been drafted by the team in 2007 and spending his first five-plus seasons in the big-leagues with Tampa Bay. But he was 21-14 in his career at Tropicana Field, and he showed why he had been so successful in St. Petersburg.
Moore threw a season-high seven innings Tuesday, allowing just a single unearned run on five hits, walking two and striking out six, lowering his ERA from 8.76 to 5.59.
Tampa Bay's only other run came in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Wilson Ramos hit a leadoff solo homer off Matt Bush before the reliever could finish off the contest.
GOMEZ ALMOST PULLS OFF FIELDING COUP: Rays outfielder Carlos Gomez almost pulled off the most humiliating of fielding plays in the seventh inning, narrowly failing to throw out Adrian Beltre at first base on a base hit to right field.
Beltre put up his hands in disbelief and gestured out toward Gomez, who was his teammate the previous two seasons, but the two later laughed about the situation.
WEDNESDAY'S MATCHUP
Rays vs. Texas Rangers, 1:10 p.m. first pitch, coverage on WDAE begins at 12:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars
Rays starter - RHP Jake Faria (0-1, 8.18 ERA)
Rangers Starter - LHP Cole Hamels (0-1, 5.00 ERA)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Thursday - OFF
Friday - vs Minnesota Twins, 7:10 p.m. first pitch (RHP Chris Archer vs. RHP Lance Lynn)
Saturday - vs Minnesota Twins, 6:10 p.m. first pitch (LHP Blake Snell vs. RHP Kyle Gibson)
Sunday - vs Minnesota Twins, 1:10 p.m. first pitch (TBD vs. TBA)