ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays brought the big bats to open their three-game series against the Astros on Friday night, but in the end, Houston made the little things matter the most.
George Springer knocked in the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded fielder's choice in the seventh inning as the Astros rallied from a two-run deficit. Houston's bullpen shut down Tampa Bay's offense from there in a 6-3, come-from-behind victory at Tropicana Field.
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"It's a good feeling," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of the bullpen's efforts. "Obviously [Michael] Feliz comes in and gets some big outs and then our back three that normally pitch … all did their jobs."
After Tampa Bay's Corey Dickerson and Houston's Carlos Beltran traded homers in the first and second, Logan Morrison and Evan Longoria went deep with solo shots of their own to give the Rays (9-9) an early 3-1 advantage. It didn't last, however, as Houston (12-5) rallied to tie it in the fourth against Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb with a pair of RBI singles from Brian McCann and Yulieski Gurriel. More >
Houston starter Mike Fiers settled down after the trio of solo home runs, going five innings while striking out five in the no-decision.
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"I think I kind of tipped [my pitches] a little bit early so in the fourth and fifth I started throwing everything pretty much as hard as I could and being really aggressive with every pitch," Fiers said. "It made a big difference."
The Astros added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Josh Reddick and reliever Danny Farquhar's wild pitch that scored Gurriel from third.
"We just came off a series where we had a lot of things go our way and we capitalized from it," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Maybe the opposite [happened] today."
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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Jumbo out of a jam: With the game knotted at 3, the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh, Cash called on reliever Jumbo Diaz to work through the strenuous situation. Five pitches later, the righty was on his way to the dugout with limited damage done. Though McCann scored after a bobbled fielder's choice by Longoria, Diaz sat down Reddick and Jose Altuve on a popout and groundout, respectively, to get out of the jam. Unfortunately for the Rays, it proved too much to overcome.
Missed opportunity: Tampa Bay missed a golden opportunity to swiftly answer Houston's big seventh. With one out in the bottom of the frame, Timothy Beckham singled on a sharp line drive to left to put the tying run aboard with Dickerson at the plate. Astros reliever Will Harris didn't flinch, though, getting Dickerson to fly out to center and Peter Bourjos to ground out as the Rays went down in order the rest of the way.
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QUOTABLE
"Our fans calling 'I got it' when popups go up." -- Cash, joking, on what has made the Rays successful at home (8-3) early in the season.
Following an 8-7 loss to the Rays on Wednesday, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said loud fans yelling caused confusion and miscues in the outfield, most notably two easy fly balls that dropped to the turf between players.
"Just a play I've made 100 times. I just didn't make the play. It's probably one of my worst days defensively in a while." -- Longoria on bobbling Springer's fielder's choice, leading to McCann's winning run.
UNDER REVIEW
The Rays challenged an out at first base in the second inning after a hustling Player Page for Shane Peterson appeared to beat out the throw on a grounder. Following a 48-second review, the call was overturned and Peterson was ruled safe.
The Astros challenged a stolen base by Brad Miller one inning later, arguing that second baseman Altuve made the tag before Miller slid in safely. The call was overturned and ruled an out after 43 seconds.
WHAT'S NEXT
Astros: The Astros will send right-hander Charlie Morton (1-1, 2.81 ERA) to the hill for the second of the three-game set at Tropicana Field on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. CT. The last time Morton pitched against the Rays, in 2014, he recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings.
Rays: Blake Snell will make his fourth start at 6:10 p.m. ET. The left-hander allowed four runs (one earned) over five innings and struck out five with two walks in a 4-3 loss at Boston on Monday. Of the 11 runs Snell has yielded this season, five have been unearned, which is tied for the Major League lead.
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