Rays remain alive, getting to Greinke
Morton comes up clutch for Tampa Bay to push ALDS to fourth game
Kevin Kiermaier hit a goahead, three- run homer as Tampa Bay teed off on Zack Greinke, and the Rays backed another clutch playoff pitching performance by Charlie Morton to beat the Houston Astros 10- 3 Monday and cut their AL Division Series deficit to 2- 1.
Facing the team he helped win the World Series two years ago, Morton allowed one run and three hits while striking out nine over five innings. The 35- year- old Morton is 4- 0 with an 0.95 ER A in four career elimination starts, including last week ’s wild- card win at Oakland.
Astros manager AJ Hinch announced after the game that Houston would start Justin Verlander on three days of rest in Game 4 in the best- of- five matchup at Tropicana Field on Tuesday.
Kiermaier got the wild- card Rays going with his shot in the second inning. Ji- Man Choi and Brandon Lowe added solo shots off Greinke, who has never won in Tampa Bay, and Willy Adames added a solo blast against Wade Miley in the sixth.
Tampa Bay’s four home runs matched a franchise record for a postseason game. The Rays also went deep four times against the Boston Red Sox during the 2008 AL Championship Series and did it again during last week’s 5- 1 wildcard victory against the Athletics.
Jose Altuve homered for the Astros, who are one victor y away from their third straight appearance in the ALCS. It was Altuve’s 10th career postseason home run, tied with Chase Utley for the most by a second baseman in major leag ue histor y.
Morton, who won 29 games for Houston over two seasons before joining the Rays as a free agent last offseason, departed with an 8- 1 lead. Four relievers finished the combined seven- hitter for the Rays, who have never been swept in a playoff series.
The Astros won the first two games with a pair of dominating pitching performances from Verlander and Gerrit Cole, who combined to limit the Rays to one unearned run and five hits with 23 strikeouts over 142/3 innings. Houston’s other pitchers have allowed 12 earned runs in 111/3 innings, an ER A of 9.53.
Greinke won 18 games and was 8- 1 with a 3.02 in 10 starts after being acquired from Arizona at the trade deadline.