ASTROS DEFEAT RAYS
Dubón comes through in the clutch, Astros beat Rays 2-1 in extras
Aug 14, 2024, 9:45 pm
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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According to multiple reports, the Houston Texans are signing offensive tackle Cam Robinson to a 1-year contract.
Free-agent OT Cam Robinson is signing with the Houston Texans, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2025
KPRC2's Aaron Wilson is reporting that the 1-year deal has a max value of $14.5 million.
With Laremy Tunsil now a member of the Commanders, clearly the Texans wanted to add some more talent at the tackle position.
Rookie right tackle Blake Fisher showed some promise last season, but he also had his share of struggles, as one would expect from a first-year player.
This move provides the Texans with flexibility if they choose to play Tytus Howard at guard again, while also giving GM Nick Caserio additional options in the draft.
Many believed the Texans would be locked in on drafting an offensive lineman with their first pick, which they may still do. But now, they can focus on taking the best player available, which could very well be a receiver at No. 25 overall.
Plus, this addition will make the Texans less predictable on draft day when rival teams are trying to predict who Caserio will draft based on Houston's needs.
Robinson started all 17 games last season, splitting time between the Jaguars and the Vikings. The Vikings traded for Robinson after their starting tackle Christian Darrisaw was lost for the season to injury. With Robinson in the last year of his deal and the Jags' season setting up to be another failure, Jacksonville decided to trade their left tackle away. Robinson (age 29) was drafted by the Jaguars in the 2nd round out of Alabama in 2017.
Make no mistake about it, this is a solid pickup by the Texans!