Rays’ Margot steals show vs. Astros
Manuel Margot hit a three-run home run one batter after a crucial Houston error and made a spectacular catch in right field in his former home ballpark, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Astros 4-2 Monday to take a 2- 0 lead in the AL Championship Series.
Margot homered off Lance McCullers Jr. with two outs in the first inning on an 87-degree afternoon. An inning later, he tracked George Springer’s long foul ball to right field while shielding his face from the sun and caught it as he tumbled over a padded railing atop a wall and landed on a walkway near the seats down the line at Petco Park.
Margot popped up and
held up his glove with the ball in it after a 102-foot sprint. That ended the inning, stranding two runners.
Margot was an outfielder with the San Diego Padres
from late in the 2016 season until being traded to Tampa Bay on Feb. 8 for reliever Emilio Pagán.
Margot homered to straightaway center field on an 0-1 pitch from Mc
Cullers with two outs in the first. It followed a throwing error by second baseman José Altuve from shallow right field on a grounder by Ji-Man Choi. The throw hit the ground before going in and out of first baseman Yuli Gurriel’s glove.
The play originally was ruled an error on Gurriel, but the official scorer later charged the error to Altuve. When Gurriel returned to the dugout, he slammed his glove onto the bench.
Ma r got ’ s bi g play s made a winner of 36-yearold Charlie Morton, who helped Houston win the 2017 World Series, and spoiled an otherwise fine effort by McCullers, who lost despite striking out 11 in seven innings. Morton improved to 4- 0 with a 0.90 ERA in the last two postseasons.