Astros drop game 2 of the series
Astros daily report: Rays 4, Astros 2
Mar 29, 2019, 8:48 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
A quick recap of Friday night's Astros game against the Rays:
Final Score: Rays 4, Astros 2
Record: 1-1, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Charlie Morton (1-0).
Losing pitcher: Gerrit Cole (0-1).
Star of the game: Despite the score, Gerrit Cole looked dominant for most of his start, giving up just one earned run to go with three unearned after an error extended an inning and cost the Astros their 2-0 lead. Cole managed to get 10 strikeouts over his six innings and finished with 101 pitches.
Notes: After Cole and Morton both got out to hot starts with a combined eight strikeouts over the first two scoreless innings, the offenses traded blows in the third with Michael Brantley getting a two-RBI double in the top of the inning before an error in the bottom of the inning led to three runs for the Rays to take a 3-2 lead. Tampa Bay extended that to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run off of Cole, then their bullpen took over and wrapped up Houston's first loss of the year, tying the series 1-1.
Up next: The Astros will be back at it for game three of four tomorrow at 5:10 PM. Tyler Glasnow will be on the mound for the Rays while Colin McHugh will return to the mound for as a starter for the Astros after playing his role in the bullpen last season.
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Michael Wacha scattered four hits over six innings, Vinnie Pasquantino homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros 2-0 for the second straight night Saturday to run their winning streak to six.
Wacha (1-3) once again received little run support, but the veteran right-hander made the meager production stand up on chilly evening at Kauffman Stadium. He struck out six while walking two and never allowed a runner past second base.
Steven Cruz worked the seventh for Kansas City, his seventh appearance this season without allowing a run. John Schreiber left runners on the corners in the eighth, and Carlos Estévez had a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
Bobby Witt Jr. doubled and scored in the first inning for the Royals, extending his career-best hitting streak to 18 games.
Framber Valdez (1-3) gave up a sacrifice fly to Mark Canha in the first inning and Pasquantino's shot down the right-field line in the fifth. Otherwise, the Astros left-hander kept Kansas City in check, allowing three hits and two walks over eight innings.
Valdez had tossed seven shutout innings against the Royals last August in a 3-2 victory.
The Astros, who have lost five straight at the K, have managed just nine hits while getting shut out over the first two games of the series. They had rolled into Kansas City having won three straight and five of their last six games.
Key moment
Isaac Parades hit a two-out double and Jeremy Peña followed with a single to give Houston runners on the corners in the eighth inning. Schreiber bounced back to strike out Christian Walker with a four-seam fastball to end the threat.
Key stat
The Royals have only scored seven runs in the 32 innings that Wacha has pitched this season.
Up next
RHP Hunter Brown (3-1, 1.16) tries to extend a 24-inning scoreless streak for Houston in the series finale Sunday. LHP Kris Bubic (2-1, 1.45) gets the start for Kansas City after tossing seven shutout innings against the Rockies his last time out.