Houston 15, Tampa Bay 1
When: 8:10 PM ET, Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Pat Hoberg, 1B -
Greg Gibson, 2B -
Jordan Baker, 3B -
Brian Knight
Attendance:
28454
By Field Level Media
Justin Verlander carried a shutout into the sixth inning before being ejected as the host Houston Astros pounded the Tampa Bay Rays 15-1 Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.
Verlander (16-5) had his streak of starts with double-digit strikeouts snapped at seven, one shy of the major league record held by Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale. Verlander recorded four strikeouts while allowing four hits over 5 1/3 innings, but was ejected upon arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Pat Hoberg after Tommy Pham doubled to center field in the sixth.
Verlander's ejection put a bow on a ballyhooed pitching matchup between him and Rays right-hander Charlie Morton, who entered Tuesday ranked second and third in the American League in ERA, respectively.
Morton (13-6), the hero of the Astros' Game 7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, scuffled in his first appearance in Houston following his offseason signing with Tampa Bay.
The right-hander faced the minimum through two innings, but started to come undone in the third when nine-hole hitter Josh Reddick followed consecutive walks to Abraham Toro and Robinson Chirinos that opened the inning with an RBI double to right-center. Two batters later, Jose Altuve plated Chirinos with a sacrifice fly to center that doubled the Houston lead to 2-0.
Five of the first six batters reached safely for Houston in the fourth, with Yuli Gurriel delivering a two-run double that scored Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez two batters before Chirinos drove in Gurriel with a two-run home run to left. Chirinos' 15th homer extended the lead to 6-0.
Morton allowed a season-high six earned runs while matching his season low of four innings pitched. He surrendered seven hits and issued two walks while recording just four strikeouts.
Alvarez (3-for-5, four RBIs) posted the fourth multi-homer game of his rookie season, cranking a three-run, opposite-field shot in the fifth off Rays right-hander Andrew Kittredge that upped the lead to 9-0. Alvarez then belted his 21st homer to right in the seventh, a solo shot against utility man Michael Brosseau.
Houston scored five runs (three earned) off Rays right-hander Chaz Roe in the sixth and won for the eighth time in nine games to improve to a season-best 39 games over .500.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Tampa Bay
|
7 |
1 |
12 |
.212 |
22 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
Houston
|
18 |
3 |
33 |
.450 |
17 |
7 |
14 |
3 |
0 |
0 |