*Photo from CBS Sports*
Tampa Bay leads series 3-0
The Houston Astros were entering the ALCS with a ton of momentum. Then, they ran into another team with that momentum. Jose Altvue made another costly error, Hunter Renfroe hit a two run double, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros by a 5-2 score to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the ALCS, putting the Rays one win away from a World Series appearance.
The Astros got the scoring started in the first inning, when Jose Altuve hit a solo homer to left field, making it 1-0 Astros early on. It remained that way until the 6th inning, when Joey Wendle hit a two run single to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Later that inning, Willy Adames was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in a run, and Renfroe hit a two run double, making it 5-1 Rays. In the bottom of the 6th, Michael Brantley hit a solo homer to make it 5-2, but that was all the Astros could muster.
Jose Urquidy started and got the loss for the Astros, pitching into the 6th but not being able to record any outs. Urquidy allowed two runs on 4 hits and one walk, striking out 4 hitters. After Urquidy departed in the 6th, Enoli Paredes and Brooks Raley combined to finish the 6th, with Paredes responsible for the other 3 runs. Josh James then pitched two innings of scoreless relief, and Blake Taylor threw a scoreless 9th inning.
Astros manager Dusty Baker said after the game that "The big hit has been eluding us the whole series, and it seems like they get whatever they want, then the pinch-hitter bloops one to right field and scores two runs. So far, things haven't gone our way. We really got our backs up against the wall. It's a steep mountain to climb, but it's not impossible. We just gotta tighten our belts, put our big boy pants on and come out fighting tomorrow."
Altuve made yet another error, this time in the 6th inning, short hopping Carlos Correa as the ball got into left field, leading to the big inning for the Rays. Baker addressed it after the game, saying that "Nobody feels worse than Jose, he takes it very serious and takes it to heart. He's one of ours, and we've all been through this before; not in this spotlight like this. It hurts us all to see him hurting. And we will give him all the support that he needs."
Ryan Yarbrough got the win for the Rays, pitching into the 6th, but was pulled after the leadoff homer by Brantley. Yarbrough allowed two runs on 3 hits and two walks, striking out 5 hitters. After Yarbrough was lifted, Pete Fairbanks finished the 6th inning, with no more damage. John Curtiss worked a scoreless 7th inning, and Ryan Thompson and Aaron Loup combined to work the 8th. Diego Castillo shut down the Astros in the 9th for the save.
Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said that game 3 was a "Classic Rays win, dominant pitching, phenomenal defense and picking our spot to score runs, and tonight it was the sixth inning for us with the five-run outburst. It just takes one inning and that one momentum swing for us to do damage, and we did that tonight when our pitching and defense was absolutely incredible. That’s what we do."
Kiermaier said of the continued success that "We have guys that play the game the right way, we don’t have a whole lot of household names, but we have plenty of well-above-average Major League Baseball players in our clubhouse, and we know we can play, and here we are thriving on the big stage."
The series continues Wednesday night, where the Rays look to reach their first world series since 2008, as Tyler Glasnow gets the start. The Astros look to fight another day as they send ace Zack Greinke to the mound.
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