Charlie Morton recorded eight strikeouts against his former club, and four relievers combined to work four scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Rays evened their season-opening, four-game series with the Houston Astros with a 4-2 win on Friday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Morton (1-0) gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over five innings against the Astros, for whom he recorded the victory in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. Morton signed as a free agent with the Rays this offseason yet remains a favorite among his former teammates, some of whom applauded when Morton was introduced during pregame festivities on Opening Day.

Astros left fielder Michael Brantley recorded a two-out, two-run double off Morton in the top of the third inning, driving home Tony Kemp (hit by pitch) and Jose Altuve (walk). Brantley was erased trying to stretch his hit into a triple, and Morton faced just one batter over the minimum over his final two innings of work, surrendering a two-out single to George Springer in the fifth.

The Rays were quick to erase their 2-0 deficit, taking advantage of a one-out error by Astros shortstop Aledmys Diaz that enabled catcher Mike Zunino to reach in the bottom of the third.

Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole (0-1) cruised through his first two frames, striking out five of six batters, but wobbled a bit following the Diaz miscue, allowing an RBI single to Tommy Pham that sliced the lead in half. Ji-Man Choi followed with a two-run single on a soft line drive to center field, scoring Zunino and Pham, the latter of whom swiped second base to move into scoring position.

Cole gave up four hits in the third inning, three against his curveball. Pham plated Kevin Kiermaier by driving a 99.2 mph fastball to right field. Cole later surrendered a leadoff home run to Rays third baseman Yandy Diaz in the sixth inning, yet pitched effectively, giving up four runs (one earned) on five hits in six innings. He recorded 10 strikeouts and did not issue a walk.

Jose Alvarado notched the save for the Rays, striking out Kemp with the tying run on base.

--Field Level Media