Down by one in the second inning, James Loney worked leadoff walk, but Logan Forsythe ground into a fielder’s choice to keep one on with one out. David DeJesus followed with a liner to the gap in right center that scored Forsythe from first base and resulted in DeJesus standing on third base with a triple. After a Jake Elmore strikeout, and with Kevin Kiermaier in the batter’s box, Astros’ starter Lance McCullers bounced a wild pitch past Jason Castro that allowed DeJesus to score, giving the Rays a one run advantage.
Houston and Tampa Bay traded the lead two innings later when Moore gave up a two-out, two-run, 0-2 homer to Astros All-Star second baseman, Jose Altuve.
Trailing 3-2, the Rays regained the lead in the fifth, rallying for two runs against McCullers — who fanned 10 in six innings. DeJesus led off with a single to left, and Elmore responded in kind by hitting a two-strike single to right. Kevin Kiermaier grounded hard to first, although he was able to advance the runners into scoring position. Then Curt Casali and John Jaso worked back-to-back walks, knotting the game at three apiece. Grady Sizemore capped the inning by beating out a potential double-play ball — the RBI groundout put Tampa Bay in front.
That put Moore on the winning side of the ledger. The lefty went five innings and allowed three runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out three. It was his longest start with the Rays this year. To be clear, although the start wasn’t sparkling, it was good enough to help the lefty build confidence. While Moore struggled with his fastball command, and though he didn’t seem to have a rhyme or reason for what he threw and when, Matt Moe sprinkled in a few well executed breaking balls to keep the Astros off-balance. Post surgery Moore continues to be a work in progress, but he was able to hand the ball over to the bullpen to secure the victory.
Brandon Gomes worked around a one-out single and a two-out walk in the sixth, coaxing an inning ending fly-ball out to center from Jose Altuve to escape the jam. Steve Geltz allowed a leadoff hit to Marwin Gonzalez an inning later, but retired the next three batters, culminating in an inning ending Colby Rasmus fly-ball out to the warning track in left. Kevin Jepsen got the eighth and threw another 1-2-3 inning, then Tampa Bay’s All-Star closer Brad Boxberger came on and did the same in the ninth for his 23rd save.
The Rays now have a four-day All-Star Break before resuming play on Friday in Toronto against the Blue Jays.
Kevin Cash assessed the first half of play after the win:
Noteworthiness
— Jaso paused in the fifth inning after working the game tying bases-loaded walk. The DH/OF said he lost track of the count because, per Matt Baker (Tampa Bay Times) he was so focused on trying to get a hit to atone for striking out in his previous two at-bats:
That was all I was really thinking about. I didn’t really think about getting an RBI by walking.
— Go get ’em Arch and Boxy!
About to take off to Cincy with my angelic parents and the Boxbergers. Ava Marie here too. She’s a… https://t.co/qZzGAFPWtC
— Chris Archer (@ChrisArcher42) July 12, 2015
— Dallas Keuchel, not Chris Archer or Chris Sale, will be getting the start for the AL in tomorrow’s All-Star Game. I’d reckon Archer’s nine earned run audition against Ned Yost’s Royals did him no favors. I digress.