Houston 4, Tampa Bay 3
When: 4:10 PM ET, Saturday, June 11, 2016
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Dan Bellino, 1B -
Clint Fagan, 2B -
Tom Hallion, 3B -
Phil Cuzzi
Attendance:
19658
By The Sports Xchange
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Rays starter Chris Archer kept Houston in check for seven-plus innings, but the bullpen gave up a bases-loaded wild pitch in the eighth inning and a home run in the ninth, helping the Astros to a 4-3 win on Saturday at Tropicana Field.
Astros starter Mike Fiers (4-3) matched Archer on the mound, holding the Rays to two runs and five hits in seven innings.
The Astros (30-34) pulled away in the ninth, getting a solo home run from Luis Valbuena off reliever Dana Eveland.
Astros reliever Will Harris, who came in with a 0.33 ERA, gave up a walk, single and walk to load the bases with no outs in the ninth. After Steven Souza's sacrifice fly put the tying run at third base, Harris picked up the save by getting a double play from Desmond Jennings, the final out coming as the tying run would have scored.
Erasmo Ramirez relieved Archer -- after a season-high 118 pitches -- with two outs in the eighth and a runner on first and got into trouble without allowing a hit. Ramirez hit Jose Altuve and then walked Colby Rasmus to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Marwin Gonzalez to score and give Houston its first lead at 3-2.
Archer retired the first nine batters he faced, getting a 1-0 lead in the third on a solo home run by Rays shortstop Brad Miller.
Houston tied the score in the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Jose Altuve to score George Springer, who singled and advanced to third on Marwin Gonzalez's single.
Archer held the Astros to the one run and four hits in the first six innings. Houston got two-outs singles from Gonzalez and Altuve in the sixth, but Rasmus popped out to center to end the inning.
The Rays took the lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Evan Longoria -- his 15th homer of the season -- on a ball that actually landed in shallow left field after hitting the "C" ring of the catwalks high above Tropicana Field, which under the stadium's ground rules constitutes a home run. Longoria has six home runs in his last eight games after hitting nine in the first 50 of the season.
Houston tied the score with two outs in the seventh on another solo home run. Carlos Gomez delivered his third of the season to center field to make it 2-2.
Archer had his second longest outing in 14 starts this season, topped only by an eight-inning game against the Yankees on May 27.
Fiers, matching his longest outing of the season, kept even with Archer's numbers for six innings -- two runs and five hits allowed for each at that point -- and got a key out to end the sixth. With two on after Logan Morrison was hit by a pitch and Steve Pearce advanced on an infield single, but Corey Dickerson popped up to second to end the rally.
NOTES: As part of the Rays' "Stars Wars Night" festivities, Candace Payne -- also known as viral-video sensation Chewbacca Mom -- threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Rays' Taylor Motter wore her signature Chewbacca mask behind home plate to catch the pitch. ... Houston's Lance McCullers, who pitched in Friday's loss to the Rays, leads the AL with 40 strikeouts over his last four starts. ... Houston's pitchers went into the game with a combined 542 strikeouts, the best mark in the AL and a franchise record through 63 games. The Rays aren't far behind with 496 this season. ... Rays RHP Alex Colome had another shaky ninth inning on Friday but is 18-for-18 on save opportunities, setting a team record for consecutive saves to start a season. Rafael Soriano and Al Reyes held the old mark at 16.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Houston |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Mike Fiers
|
Player |
Chris Archer
|
|
Win |
W/L |
Loss |
|
7.0 |
IP |
7.2 |
|
3 |
Strikeouts |
8 |
|
5 |
Hits |
6 |
|
2.57 |
ERA |
3.52 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Houston
|
7 |
2 |
13 |
.212 |
7 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Tampa Bay
|
6 |
2 |
14 |
.207 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
For more information, contact us