, and Choi brought in two more with a drive to center.Houston ended a seven-game winning streak, and the Rays snapped a season-high four-game road skid.The Rays used seven pitchers, including opener Andrew Kittredge and long man Trevor Richards, who combined to allow four hits and two runs in the first three innings. Jose De Leon (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning, and Emilio Pagan earned his 15th save.The Rays and Astros exchanged solo homers in the third, with Austin Meadows hitting his 24th and George Springer answering with his 28th to make it 2-2.D'Arnaud put Tampa Bay up 4-2 with a two-run homer in the fourth and added an RBI single in the sixth to tie it at 5.Zack Greinke had won four straight starts since joining Houston prior to the July 31 trade deadline. He got a no decision after allowing five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out eight and walking one.The Astros drew three bases-loaded walks over the fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-4 lead but left the bases loaded in both frames. Houston stranded 11 runners total.Houston again pulled within one run when Josh Reddick made it 8-7 with an RBI single in the seventh. The Rays answered with a fielder's choice grounder from Meadows to make it 9-7.Abraham Toro led off the bottom of the ninth with his first career homer to make it 9-8 before the Rays held on. Reddick was ejected in the ninth after arguing a strikeout call.TRAINER'S ROOMRays: OF Kevin Kiermaier (left rib cage contusion) remained out of the lineup for a third consecutive game as manager Kevin Cash said he's still in ''a significant amount of pain.'' Cash said he's optimistic he can avoid the injured list and possibly return Friday. ... RHP Tyler Glasnow (right forearm strain) will begin a rehab assignment Friday and is scheduled to pitch one inning or 20 pitches for Class A Charlotte. Glasnow has been out since May 11.Astros: RHP Josh James (shoulder) will make what manager AJ Hinch said he hopes will be his last rehab outing at Triple-A Round Rock. James will be evaluated Friday to see if he needs another rehab outing. .. SS Carlos Correa (back) still hasn't begun swinging and will not travel with the team on its upcoming road trip. ... RHP Ryan Pressly (knee) has been doing soft throwing and keeping his arm strength up. Pressly had right knee arthroscopic surgery and is expected to be out four to six weeks. ... Hinch said neither RHP Brad Peacock (shoulder) nor RHP Aaron Sanchez (pectoral) will play catch during the upcoming road trip.UP NEXTRays: No starter has been announced for Friday's series opener at home against Cleveland.Astros: LHP Wade Miley (13-4, 3.13 ERA) will face the Blue Jays for Friday's season opener in Toronto.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Astros try for rare season-series win over RaysFLMThanks to a comeback win Wednesday, the Houston Astros will get a chance to complete a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays when teams meet Thursday afternoon.Houston rallied from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits to top visiting Tampa Bay 8-6 on Wednesday, leveling the season series at three wins apiece ahead of the last game.The Astros' latest victory required 14 strikeouts from right-hander Gerrit Cole, four critical outs from reliever Will Harris and some quality at-bats in the seventh and eighth innings. Add it up, and Houston is in position to claim the season series against Tampa Bay for the first time since 2008.The Astros are 0-7-1 in the eight season series since and improved to 18-29 overall against Tampa Bay since joining the American League in 2013.For all the success the Astros have enjoyed over the past five seasons, it hasn't happened at the Rays' expense. By clawing out a victory Wednesday, Houston can reverse a trend that has dogged it recently."I'd like to talk about it after the game tomorrow," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "This is a really tough team to match up with. They've got an answer for everything."They play really clean baseball. They generally don't beat themselves. Their pitchers are very similar to ours, where they execute these plans where they think your weaknesses are, so you've got to hang in there as long as you can and then get some opportunities." Right-hander Zack Greinke (14-4, 2.83 ERA) will start the series finale for the Astros. He is unbeaten since joining Houston at the trade deadline late last month, going 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA over four starts and 25 2/3 innings.Greinke has worked at least six innings in each of his starts with Houston, and despite allowing 10 hits on Friday against the Los Angeles Angels, he has yet to allow more than two earned runs in any of those appearances. Even so, the one strikeout he recorded against the Angels represented a season low.Greinke is 4-6 with a 3.08 ERA over 16 career appearances (13 starts) against the Rays but hasn't faced them since June 7, 2016, when he tossed a three-hit shutout for the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.Rays right-hander Andrew Kittredge (1-0, 4.37 ERA) is expected to serve as the opener on Thursday ahead of right-hander Trevor Richards (4-12, 4.30 ERA), according to the Tampa Bay Times.Kittredge allowed three runs in one inning on Tuesday, his first career appearance against Houston. Richards has yet to pitch against the Astros.The Rays hope that duo will pitch as well as left-hander Ryan Yarbrough did over six quality innings on Wednesday. While right-hander Charlie Morton is undoubtedly the Rays' ace, Yarbrough has come on so well of late that his emergence is difficult to disregard.After giving up three runs on four hits and one walk with five strikeouts against the Astros, Yarbrough is 6-0 with a 1.77 ERA over his past 13 appearances, including five starts. His effectiveness Wednesday allowed Cash an opportunity to set up his bullpen for the finale."I thought Yarbrough threw the ball really, really well," Cash said. "I thought his game plan was really, really good. You don't make that lineup go quiet for five and six innings like he did without having some good stuff. Mixing and changing speeds, and he did that again (Wednesday)." --Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (8/29/2019)
BestBets
