Bregman, Keuchel lift Astros
HOUSTON—Rookie Alex Bregman homered and had three RBIs to back seven solid innings by Dallas Keuchel and lead the Houston Astros over the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 on Saturday night.
Bregman connected off fellow rookie Blake Snell (4-7) in the third inning to make it 4-0. It was Bregman’s fifth homer.
Keuchel (9-12) allowed nine hits and two runs for his first career victory over the Rays. He entered 0-4 in six starts against them.
Yulieski Gurriel added two doubles for Houston and collected the first two RBIs of his career. It was the fifth game for Gurriel, who played in Cuba for 15 seasons before signing with the Astros in July.
Bobby Wilson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning for
the Rays, and Tim Beckham had three hits.
Snell allowed a season-high nine hits and five runs—four earned—in threeplus innings for his third loss in four starts. He exited with a bruise on his lower left leg after being hit by a sharp grounder from Marwin Gonzalez to start the fourth.
Snell didn’t walk a batter after walking 13 combined in his last three starts. But that was about the only good news for the left-hander, who ended his streak of nine straight starts of allowing two earned runs or fewer. The streak was a franchise record for a rookie.
Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis hit consecutive doubles with no outs in the second to give Houston a 1-0 lead. A third straight double, this one by Gurriel, made it 2-0.
George Springer singled to start Houston’s third and scored on Bregman’s homer.
Bregman’s single in the fourth inning pushed the lead to 5-0.
Corey Dickerson singled with no outs in the fifth before Wilson’s home run, which smashed off the wall above the seats in left field and cut the lead to 5-2.
The Rays didn’t take advantage of a scoring opportunity in the sixth. Beckham singled with one out but was caught in a rundown when he tried to go to third on a single by Mikie Mahtook. Keuchel then struck out Steven Souza Jr. to end the threat.
Gurriel’s second RBI double made it 6-2 in the seventh inning. TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (Tommy John surgery) allowed five hits and one run in four innings for Triple-A Durham in his eighth rehabilitation start on Saturday night. Cobb’s last start in the majors came on Sept. 28, 2014.
Astros: OF Colby Rasmus worked out on the field on Saturday for the second straight day as he works to return after having surgery to remove a cyst in his ear on Aug. 10. There’s no date set for his return yet, and the Astros are trying to decide if he’ll need a rehabilitation assignment before coming off the disabled list. UP NEXT
Rays: Chris Archer (7-17, 4.11) starts for Tampa Bay on Sunday. He’s 3-2 with a 1.31 ERA in six career starts against the Astros. Two of the three complete games in his career have come against Houston, including a one-hitter at Minute Maid Park last year.
Astros: Doug Fister (12-8, 3.59) will start the series finale for Houston. Fister allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings in his last start, a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh.