Langford's 2-run homer in the seventh inning lifts Rangers past Rays 6-4 for 4th straight win

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Wyatt Langford hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning after Jacob deGrom allowed a four-run lead to slip away and the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

After the Rays trailed 4-0 after one inning, Jonathan Aranda hit a two-run homer as part of Tampa Bay's three-run sixth that tied it at 4.

Aranda’s homer and Kameron Misner’s double knocked deGrom from the game. DeGrom allowed four runs and eight hits — including homers by Aranda and Brandon Lowe — in 5⅔ innings.

Texas scored four times in the first against Rays starter Taj Bradley. Marcus Semien hit a leadoff homer and Jake Burger had a three-run shot with two outs after Langford and Adolis Garcia walked.

Bradley regrouped and held the Rangers hitless over the next four innings. He allowed four runs and two hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.

Robert Garcia (1-0), the Rangers' third pitcher, got one out to earn the win. Luke Jackson pitched the ninth for his fifth save. Mason Montgomery (0-1) gave up Langford's homer and took the loss.

Although Langford’s two-run homer gave Texas the lead, Kevin Pillar led off the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Danny Jansen ahead of the homer.

DeGrom allowed multiple homers in a game for the first time since Sept. 30, 2022, when the Braves hit three against him when he was with the Mets.

Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen faces Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker in the series finale at 1:35 p.m. Sunday.

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Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda hits a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas Rangers closer Luke Jackson, left, walks over to catcher Kyle Higashioka (11) after the final out of the ninth inning ending a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Tampa Bay Rays' Brandon Lowe is congratulated after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom reaches to catch a bounding grounder for the infield out at first base against Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Díaz during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García (53) can't reach the double off the wall hit by Tampa Bay Rays Jonathan Aranda as Rangers second base Marcus Semien (2) looks on during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Tampa Bay Rays first base Yandy Díaz, center left, hugs Texas Rangers' Adolis García (53) as first base coach Corey Ragsdale, right, and umpire Quinn Wolcott look on during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

CORRECTS TO JAKE BURGER - Texas Ranger's Jake Burger runs out his home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas Rangers' Wyatt Langford runs the bases past Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe (8) after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas Rangers' Wyatt Langford, right, celebrates his home run with teammate Joc Pederson (4) during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Croatia on Thursday protested a spate of expulsions of its citizens from Serbia, where the government of populist President Aleksandar Vucic is faced with massive anti-corruption protests that have shaken his tight grip on power in the Balkan state.

Dozens of foreign citizens, including 15 Croats, have been expelled from Serbia in the past few months or slapped an entry ban, allegedly for posing a security risk for the country.

Croatia has sent a protest note to Belgrade and informed the European Union about the expulsions, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Croatia's capital, Zagreb, adding that Serbia's moves are “unacceptable.”

“We are demanding an explanation from the Serbian authorities,” Plenkovic said at a government session. “Croatia condemns such behavior.”

There was no immediate response from Belgrade while a protest rally against the expulsions of Croatian and other foreign citizens critical of Vucic and the Serbian government was held Thursday in Belgrade.

Speakers at the rally said they will not allow Serbia to become a country of "fear and repression."

Vucic's increasingly authoritarian government has stepped up pressure on critics and independent media while struggling to quell monthslong anti-corruption protests triggered by a canopy collapse in the country's north that killed 16 people on Nov. 1.

Vucic and his allies have said that unidentified Western intelligence services were behind the student-led protests with the aim to unseat him from power by staging a so-called “color revolution.”

Vucic’s right-wing allies, Hungarian and Slovak Prime Ministers Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico, sent messages of support on Thursday for the beleaguered Serbian leader ahead of a big counter-opposition protest rally he planned to stage in Belgrade over the weekend.

Orbán said in a video message from Budapest that “Serbian patriots can count on Hungarian patriots.”

"We have been watching developments in Serbia for months now. Foreign powers are trying to interfere in the lives of the Serbs. That is happening here, too. Foreign powers are trying to tell the Serbs how to live. They are doing that here, too,” he said.

Serbian police have detained and questioned several university students, government critics and even professors while media watchdog groups have warned of attacks and threats against journalists covering the protests.

Arien Ivkovic Stojanovic, a Croatian who has lived in Serbia for 12 years and is married to a Serbian citizen, thinks that her online posts critical of Vucic could be the reason why she has been ordered to leave the country.

Ivkovic Stojanovic told The Associated Press in a phone interview that police handed her a notice saying she posed a grave security risk but didn't explain why.

“At first I started laughing," she said. "I just live a normal life, I have never even had a parking ticket."

Previous cases of expulsions of foreigners from Serbia included Russians who had criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

Entry bans also have been slapped on regional artists and pro-democracy activists. In January, Serbia expelled 13 citizens of Croatia, Romania and Austria who were taking part in a civil society workshop in Belgrade.

TV crews from neighboring Croatia and Slovenia have been stopped on the border from entering Serbia in March to cover a large anti-government protest.

Ivkovic Stojanovic appealed her order to leave Serbia within seven days, which would split her family and separate their 3-year-old daughter from her father. The 31-year-old doctor believes she was targeted because of a post supporting the student protests.

Vucic is a former extreme nationalist who now says he wants Serbia to join the EU but has faced accusations of stifling democratic freedoms while maintaining close relations with Russia and China.

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Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report.

People attend a protest denouncing the expulsion and entry bans of dozens of foreign citizens recently due to alleged security risks for the Balkan country, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People attend a protest denouncing the expulsion and entry bans of dozens of foreign citizens recently due to alleged security risks for the Balkan country, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People attend a protest denouncing the expulsion and entry bans of dozens of foreign citizens recently due to alleged security risks for the Balkan country, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A woman holds a banner reads: "Stop, expulsion of foreign citizens!" during a protest denouncing the expulsion and entry bans of dozens of foreign citizens recently due to alleged security risks for the Balkan country, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People attend a protest denouncing the expulsion and entry bans of dozens of foreign citizens recently due to alleged security risks for the Balkan country, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a public address and announces the name of the representative for the composition of the new government in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)