ASTROS DEFEAT RAYS

Dubón comes through in the clutch, Astros beat Rays 2-1 in extras

Astros Jose Altuve, Mauricio Dubon, Jake Meyers
Astros defeat the Rays 2-1. Composite Getty Image.

Mauricio Dubón drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning single, closer Josh Hader worked two scoreless innings and the AL West-leading Houston Astros won their season-high eighth straight game by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Pedro León advanced from second to third on Jeremy Peña's fly to deep center off Garrett Cleavinger (7-3) starting the 10th. Zach Dezenzo struck out, Jake Meyers and Dubón got Houston's second hit of the game. The Rays also had two hits.

“We got the sweep,” Dubón said. “It was a battle, though. But it felt pretty good.”

Hader (5-6) struck out three as Houston ended an 8-1 trip. The Astros (65-55) extended their division lead to 2 1/2 games over Seattle, which lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Detroit.

“A heck of a road trip,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “We took care of business.”

Tampa Bay has lost seven of nine and dropped to 59-61.

“We got to find a way, we’re not scoring runs,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Score runs two ways. Either getting a lot of hits or getting timely hits. None of that is coming for us right now.”

Tampa Bay has scored two or fewer runs in nine of its last 13 games.

Houston was hitless until Peña homered for the second straight game, leading off the fifth against Zack Littell.

Littell departed after five innings and 68 pitches due to season workload. The right-hander, who retired his first 11 batters, struck three and walked two.

Astros starter Ronel Blanco scattered two hits and struck out four in six scoreless innings. He is winless in six starts.

Blanco's last batter, Brandon Lowe, hit an 106.5 mph liner that the right-hander deflected with his glove and resulted in a sore left index finger.

“He came in sore, lost some feel to it,” Espada said. “He did get some X-rays; came out negative. He's good to go.”

Bryan Abreu walked Taylor Walls, who is hitting .171, starting the eighth. Walls was running on the pitch, preventing a double play on Jose Siri's grounder. Walls stole third and scored with a head-first slide on Yandy Díaz's grounder.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (neck) will make his second and likely final minor league rehab start Thursday night with Double-A Corpus Christi. … OF Kyle Tucker (bruised right shin) hit in a cage and played catch. “Slow progress, but he’s tending in the right direction,” manager Joe Espada said. … RHP Luis García (Tommy John surgery) has not resumed throwing after having a setback.

UP NEXT

Astros: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (5-10, 5.14 ERA) and Chicago White Sox LHP Garrett Crochet (6-9, 3.65 ERA) are Friday night’s scheduled starters.

Rays: Ryan Pepiot (6-5, 3.92 ERA) will make his first start since July 14 on Friday night against Arizona. The right-hander has been out with a right knee infection that is thought to have resulted from a spider bite. “A little bump in the road,” Pepiot said. “Very unorthodox thing happened, but kind of scary at the same time. Just happy to be back.” RHP Ryne Nelson (8-6, 4.51 ERA) starts for the Diamindbacks.

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The future is bright in Houston! Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun both agreed to contract extensions with the Houston Rockets, a person with knowledge of the details said Monday.

Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, agreed to a three-year, $106 million extension. Sengun, who was chosen 16th in the same draft, agreed to five-year, $185 million extension.

The person confirmed the specifics of the agreements to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deals had not been announced. Both deals were first reported by ESPN.

Both players are entering the final seasons of their rookie contracts. Green's new deal will begin next season and includes a player option for the third year, giving him the flexibility to opt out of the contract before the 2027-28 season to become a free agent.

Sengun's extension also begins next season and includes a player option for the fifth season in 2029-30.

Green played in all 82 games last season and averaged 19.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists to help the Rockets make a 19-game improvement from the previous season. He has made 545 3-pointers after making a career-high 201 last season.

The 22-year-old Green was drafted at 19 after spending one season with the G League Ignite.

He averaged 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists as a rookie. Green averaged a career-best 22.1 points in his second NBA season in 2022-23.

Sengun had a breakout year last season when he averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and five assists — all career highs — in 63 games. He missed the last part of the season with a severely sprained ankle.

The Turkish center averaged 14.8 points and nine assists in the 2022-23 season after averaging just 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds as a rookie.

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