The Tampa Bay Rays came into Sunday’s game against the Houston Astros riding a nine-game homer streak. That streak came to an end on a day of a shutout loss, when the lucky breaks did not go the Rays’ way.
Houston wasted no time accepting two unexpected gifts in the bottom of the first. Ben Williamson could not field Jose Altuve’s ground ball, and Hunter Feduccia’s throw sailed into center field on Altuve’s stolen base attempt, allowing the Astros’ second baseman to race all the way to third with only one out.
That usually ends with a run crossing the plate. Instead, Rays’ starter Mason Englert had other ideas.
After striking out Yordan Alvarez, Englert watched Isaac Paredes lift a harmless fly ball to shallow right, then froze Christian Walker with another strikeout to escape the inning unscathed. It was an impressive bit of damage control that could have easily unraveled after two defensive mistakes.
The Rays had survived their own sloppy start. Now they just needed to take advantage of it.
They almost did an inning later.
Chandler Simpson lined a single into center, promptly stole second, and put pressure on Houston’s defense with his legs. Victor Mesa Jr. followed with a walk, putting two aboard with two outs, but the Rays never found the swing to bring them home. Richie Palacios bounced into a force play, quietly ending the promising inning.
This would become a familiar theme.
Englert continued matching Houston pitch for pitch through the middle innings, getting plenty of help from a defense that settled down after its rocky opening.
Taylor Trammell provided one of the afternoon’s defensive highlights with a leaping grab in center to rob Jonathan Aranda in the third, helping preserve the scoreless tie.
Then came the bottom of the fourth.
Good hitters punish mistakes, and Englert left a fastball near the center of the plate for Christian Walker. Walker launched a solo homer into right field to finally break the deadlock, turning what had been a well-pitched chess match into a game where every remaining opportunity carried a little extra weight.
To Englert’s credit, that was about the only real mistake.
The right-hander regrouped immediately, retiring the next three hitters and keeping the deficit at just one. That mattered because Tampa Bay kept giving itself chances to answer.
The fifth inning may have been the most frustrating of them all.
Williamson ripped a leadoff single and swiped second, putting the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Victor Mesa Jr. struck out, but Palacios moved Williamson to third with a productive ground ball.
Ninety feet away. Two outs. One well-placed ball ties the game.
Instead, Hunter Feduccia lined one directly at Christian Walker at first base, and another rally disappeared before it ever really got started.
If that wasn’t enough, the sixth somehow found another way to sting.
Aranda hit a single, bringing Junior Caminero to the plate. Orioles pitcher Peter Lambert then threw a wild pitch, advancing Aranda to second. Another wild pitch advanced Aranda to third with one out after Steven Okert entered the Houston bullpen. The tying run stood just 90 feet away again.
Caminero popped out to shortstop, and then Ryan Vilade, pinch-hitting for Cedric Mullins, lifted a fly ball to right that settled comfortably into Cam Smith’s glove.
Three innings with runners reaching third base and zero runs to show for it through six. Baseball has a cruel sense of timing, and the Astros wasted little time reminding everyone.
Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Paredes turned on a pitch and drove it into the left-center field seats for his 12th homer of the season. Just like that, a one-run game became a two-run deficit that felt like a mountain to climb.
The Rays still had six outs left, but they never seriously threatened again.
Jonny DeLuca singled as a pinch hitter in the eighth, but Houston got him out on a force play. Josh Hader entered for the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to Junior Caminero, briefly bringing the tying run to the plate. It felt like one last opening.
Ryan Vilade struck out, Chandler Simpson lined out, and Williamson followed with another strikeout to end it.
There were positives buried in the loss. Englert battled through 5.2 innings despite surrendering the two solo homers, and the bullpen kept the Astros from adding on. The pitching staff also piled up 12 strikeouts against one of the American League’s more dangerous lineups.
But this game belonged to the opportunities that slipped away.
The Rays will be back at it tomorrow to open their seven-game homestand heading into the All-Star break. Griffin Jax is scheduled to take the mound against the Yankees with first pitch at 6:40 pm ET.
