Glasnow shines, earns first win with Rays

ARLINGTON -- Right-hander Tyler Glasnow turned in one of his best starts for the Rays on Monday night against the Rangers, and he finally earned what had been an elusive first win with his new club.
Glasnow allowed just two hits and struck out six over six scoreless innings in the Rays' 3-0 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Park. Glasnow, acquired in the Trade Deadline deal that sent Chris Archer to the Pirates, picked up his first victory with Tampa Bay in nine starts.
"He was outstanding. I liked everything," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I thought he was out of rhythm in the first inning, and I thought he did a nice job of kind of calming the situation down, getting the ball over the plate. He had the breaking balls, the fastballs going, and he threw some changeups."

Glasnow hit Rougned Odor with a pitch with one out in the first, and Odor later stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The righty, however, struck out Adrián Beltré with two outs to escape the threat.
Glasnow then found a rhythm on the mound, retiring the next 11 batters he faced. He also came close to taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
But with two outs In the fifth, Glasnow gave up an infield single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa for Texas' first hit on the night. Still, Glasnow said he wasn't frustrated after losing the potential no-hit bid.

"A hit's a hit. I guess I'd rather have that than a beamer or something, for sure," Glasnow said with a wide smile.
Outside of a Sept. 5 start against the Blue Jays in which he allowed seven runs and lasted just two-thirds of an inning, Glasnow has been strong thus far for Tampa Bay. He's allowed one run or fewer in five of his nine starts, and he's yielded two hits or fewer in five starts.
"He's done just outstanding," Cash said. "The runs he's given up, it seems like they come off solo home runs a lot, which is fine. Keeping guys off base, and if they're going to get you, you'd rather it be a solo shot. With the exception of Toronto, we've been in every single game. He's given us an opportunity to win every single game that he's been out there."

Designated hitter Ji-Man Choi provided all the support Glasnow would need. Choi scored Mallex Smith on a single in the first inning, and he knocked Rangers starter Adrian Sampson out of the game with a solo shot in the sixth, his 10th home run of the season.

Choi has five home runs and 14 RBIs through 14 games in September, and four multi-RBI games in his last nine. "He's been hot now and getting big hits for a couple weeks," Cash said. "That kind of trickles throughout the season -- certain guys get hot, certain guys get cold, and you expect to pick up. But right now, he's sitting in the middle of the lineup and getting big hits."
Jake Bauers padded the lead in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly to score Willy Adames.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Kevin Kiermaier made a remarkable catch in the fifth inning to preserve Glasnow's no-hitter at the time. Ronald Guzmán drilled a high liner to center field, but Kiermaier backpedaled and made a jumping catch for the second out of the inning.

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
With no outs in the second inning, Smith made an impressive catch on a fly ball hit by Willie Calhoun in foul territory. Smith made a leaping grab near the right-field wall to record the out.

HE SAID IT
"Look, that is a power right-handed arm. It's got some angle to it -- the breaking ball was a power breaking ball tonight, swing and miss. Situation where he threw enough balls out of the strike zone and enough in, 97-98 mph with a swing-and-miss breaking ball made it uncomfortable for our guys. He's got pretty good stuff. That was Major League stuff out there tonight." -- Rangers manager Jeff Banister, on Glasnow
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
With Tommy Pham at the plate and no outs in the sixth inning, Mallex Smith attempted to steal second base, but he was called out. The Rays challenged the play, and the call was confirmed. It was the 12th time this season that Smith has been caught stealing.

UP NEXT
Left-hander Blake Snell (19-5, 2.03 ERA) looks to become just the second pitcher in Rays history to reach the 20-win mark on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. ET at Globe Life Park. In his only other start against the Rangers, Snell got the win after allowing just one run in 6 1/3 innings. Texas will counter with veteran right-hander Yovani Gallardo (8-5, 6.67).