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Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Houston 4, Tampa Bay 1
When: 8:10 PM ET, Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Bob Davidson, 1B - Jim Reynolds, 2B - John Hirschbeck, 3B - James Hoye
Attendance: 14143

Astros 4, Rays 1: Chris Carter belted two homers and drove in all four runs, and Bud Norris pitched seven strong innings as Houston defeated visiting Tampa Bay to snap a five-game losing streak.

Carter capped his second two-homer game of the season with a three-run shot in the seventh that broke a 1-1 tie. Norris (6-7) allowed one run on six hits and three walks while striking out five for his first victory in six starts. Jose Veras pitched the ninth for his 17th save.

James Loney and Matt Joyce each had a pair of hits for the Rays, who saw their four-game win streak come to an end. Tampa Bay’s Roberto Hernandez (4-10) yielded three runs on four hits in the first six-plus innings en route to losing his fourth straight start.

Desmond Jennings singled on the game’s first pitch, stole second, moved to third on Joyce’s infield hit and scored on Ben Zobrist's sacrifice fly. Carter, who also hit two homers on April 9 at Seattle, tied it in the second inning when he drove a 3-2 pitch from Hernandez into the left-field seats.

Hernandez had pitched 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth before Brett Wallace led off the seventh with a double and Jason Castro followed with a single. Jake McGee came out of the bullpen and gave up Carter’s 413-foot blast to left on another 3-2 pitch for his 17th of the season.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Loney singled in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, one shy of equaling his career best. He is 9-for-17 lifetime against Norris. … Astros 1B/DH Carlos Pena was back in the lineup after missing four games due to a death in his family. He went 0-for-3 against his former team. … Before Carter’s first homer, the Rays had matched a franchise record by pitching 24 consecutive scoreless innings. Tampa Bay also accomplished the feat in 2008 and 2012.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   Houston
Roberto Hernandez Player Bud Norris
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 7.0
1 Strikeouts 5
4 Hits 6
4.50 ERA 1.29
Hitting
Tampa Bay   Houston
Matt Joyce Player Chris Carter
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 4
0 HR 2
2 TB 8
.667 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 8 0 9 .258 14 7 1 3 2 0
Houston 7 2 15 .241 4 3 4 0 0 0