ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Whether it's early or late, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays think they can depend on Rick White.

The reliever pitched three scoreless innings after starter Bryan Rekar's back stiffened and Bubba Trammell drove in three runs with a seventh-inning double to help the Devil Rays beat the slumping Texas Rangers 6-1 Sunday.

White (2-4), who's worked more innings (54) than any other AL reliever, extended his streak of scoreless appearances to seven. During the stretch that began June 4, he has allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out seven during a 10 1/3 innings.

"Things are starting to come together all at once. The pitching is good -- starting and relieving -- and the hitters are starting to score some runs," White said. "I expect a lot of good things out of us, and we've been expecting it all year. We just haven't been getting it done until the last few series."

Jim Mecir and Mark Guthrie pitched the last two innings for Tampa Bay, which has won 9 of 13 and taken four straight series for the first time in franchise history. Texas finished a 1-8 road trip, its worst stretch away from home since June 1993.

White's insertion in the game after the fourth inning caught him by surprise. He normally doesn't get a call until the sixth or seventh, but when Rekar's back stiffened manager Larry Rothschild didn't hesitate to deviate from the normal routine.

"It's the earliest I've been in in about a month. I wasn't really expecting it," White said. "I got up, got ready as fast as I could and went out and tried to get through the next couple of innings. It worked out."

The right-hander escaped a jam with two runners on in the fifth, getting AL batting leader Ivan Rodriguez to foul out.

"I wasn't worried about Pudge. I just worry about keeping the ball in the park," White said. "For me, the only way I can do that with him is to get it down and away or bust him up and in. I was fortunate enough to get it up and in on his hands."

John Flaherty's pinch-RBI single off Rick Helling (7-6) erased a 1-0 Texas lead in the fifth. Quinton McCracken, in his first game since being recalled from Triple-A Durham, drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth.

An error by second baseman Luis Alicea, on what should have been an inning-ending double play in the seventh, allowed the Devil Rays to go up 3-1. Alicea fielded Ozzie Guillen's sharp grounder, but his flip to second for a force sailed over shortstop Royce Clayton's head.

The ball went into shallow left field and Bobby Smith scored all the way from first base.

Trammell finished Tampa Bay's four-run seventh with a bases-loaded double off Helling, who allowed six runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings and lost his fifth straight decision.

"It seems like everything that can go wrong right now for me is," Helling said.

"My last five starts are games where we have won all of them, and we've lost all of them. It gets frustrating ... It's just one of those streaks you go through, I guess. They say it all evens out. I just hope I have enough starts left for it to even out."

Texas stopped a nine-game losing streak Saturday and got off to another good start Sunday with Helling limiting the Devil Rays to one hit through four innings. David Segui gave Texas a 1-0 lead with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly off Rekar.

Tampa Bay began to peck away at Helling with two outs in the fifth. Smith singled, stole second and scored on Flaherty's single. The Devil Rays took a 2-1 lead in the sixth when Felix Martinez and Gerald Williams singled ahead of McCracken's RBI hit.

Game notes
Helling lost for the first time in five career decisions at Tropicana Field. ... Segui returned to the Texas lineup after missing two games with a sore left foot. He fouled a pitch off the top of the foot last Thursday and again in batting practice Friday. ... Williams returned for Tampa Bay after sitting out five games with a left hip strain. ... Rodriguez, hitting .375, singled in the fourth inning for a 26-game hitting streak against the Devil Rays. ... Tampa Bay C Mike DiFelice left the game in the fifth inning because of a stomach virus.