*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Houston leads series 2-1
In a day that the Tampa Bay Rays needed a win, they came up clutch. Charlie Morton dominated, Kevin Kiermaier hit a 3 run homer, the the Rays cruised to a 10-3 win over the Houston Astros to stave off elimination. Morton dominated against Houston, a team he helped win the world series in 2017. Manager Kevin Cash said that ''It's just what Charlie's done all year, he's got that knack for doing some special things for us, and he did it again.''
The Astros jumped ahead in the first inning when Jose Altuve cranked a solo homer to center field. In the second, Kiermaier hit his 3 run homer to center field to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead. In the 3rd, Ji-Man Choi hit a solo shot to right field to make it 4-1. In the 4th, Brandon Lowe hit a solo homer to left, Austin Meadows hit a two run double, and Tommy Pham hit an RBI single to make it 8-1. In the 6th, Yuli Gurriel hit a two run single to make it 8-3. In the bottom of the 6th, Willy Adames hit a solo homer, and Travis D'Arnaud hit a sac fly in the 7th to make it 10-3.
Morton went 5 innings for the Rays, giving up one run on 3 hits and two walks. He struck out 9 to earn his second win of the playoffs, the first coming in the AL Wild Card Game. Kiermaier said that ''For us to put three runs on the board, that felt great. That was huge for us, after that, it's just, Hey, Charlie Morton, go do your thing, go do what you do.' And he did just that.''
Zack Greinke got hit hard, lasting just 3 2/3 innings, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and one walk. Greinke has had struggles at Tropicana field his entire career, and this was just another line in that book. Manager AJ Hinch said of Morton's performance said that ''I've seen this out of Charlie, when you get him early, get some opportunities early, you have to maximize them if you can. Same thing he did in the wild-card game. He settled in nicely and got them through five innings.''
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Tampa Bay, where the Rays go with a bullpen game, with Diego Castillo opening it up. The Astros go with ace Justin Verlander, hoping to advance to the ALCS.
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