Game 129: Rays 10 Houston Astros 4 — Postgame News and Notes

By RaysRadio

The Rays scored in three straight innings early on, and pulled away in the eighth to beat the Houston Astros on Sunday, 10–4. With the win, Tampa Bay salvaged the final game of the series at Minute Maid Park, and split the season series (3–3).

Leading 4–3 entering the eighth, Tampa Bay scored five runs against Michael Feliz and Tony Sipp to take control. Brad Miller singled to left, and then Matt Duffy drilled a homer to left to make it 6–3. It was Duffy’s first homer since being traded to the Rays.

After the next two batters were recorded, Tim Beckham and Luke Maile had infield hits, and Feliz was lifted for Sipp. Corey Dickerson then blasted a homer to right to cap the rally. It was Dickerson’s 18th homer this year, but first off a lefty in 2016.

That inning helped support Chris Archer, who struck out 10 in working seven innings. Archer allowed just one baserunner over the first three innings. After throwing 36 pitches during that stretch, Archer then had to grind through a 34-pitch fourth that saw Houston cut a 4–0 deficit to 4–3. Jose Altuve homered to left after a leadoff walk to Alex Bregman to get Houston on the board. Later in the inning Jason Castro singled home a run with two out, making it a one-run contest.

After that point, Archer gave up just one hit, as he struck out six of his final 11 hitters, retiring 10 of them. Steve Geltz did allow a run in the eighth, but Nick Franklin, who was activated off the DL on Saturday, homered to right to give the Rays their final run of the day. Enny Romero pitched a scoreless ninth to wrap up the win.

Tampa had built a 4–0 lead against Doug Fister. Steven Souza Jr drove home the first run in the second with an RBI groundout. In the third, Evan Longoria doubled to left to make it 2–0. In the third, an Alex Bregman two-out error scored the third Rays run, and Maile then doubled to left to make it 4–0. Tampa Bay collected 15 hits, three each from Longoria and Franklin.

After the game the Rays announced that Geltz was optioned to Durham, making room for Alex Cobb, who will be activated on Monday.

The Rays now visit Boston for a three-game series beginning on Monday. Matt Andriese starts a day after his 27th birthday. The Red Sox start Rick Porcello. Coverage on the Rays Radio Network begins at 6:30 p.m., and Dave and Andy will have the call with first pitch at 7:10 p.m.