With another dominant pitching performance
Jason Spriggs Jersey , the Houston Astros didn’t need much offense – or luck – to tie a franchise record for road wins.
Lance McCullers pitched seven strong innings, Jake Marisnick homered and the Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 Thursday night for their 11th straight victory away from home.
McCullers (9-3) gave up three hits while striking out seven. The Astros have won his last six starts and have won 18 of 21 overall. Their latest win matched the club record set last May 14-June 5 on the way to winning the franchise’s first World Series title.
The Rays threatened in the eighth after Chris Devenski replaced McCullers to start the inning. Willy Adames and Kevin Kiermaier opened with singles to put runners at the corners. Matt Duffy failed to get a squeeze bunt down and then, with Kiermaier running, hit a rocket right at shortstop Marwin Gonzalez, who turned it into an easy double play.
”You are going to line out sometimes, it’s part of the game,” Duffy said. ”Not executing (the bunt) is definitely what I’m most frustrated with.”
Jake Bauers then grounded out to end the inning with Devenski getting his 12th straight scoreless appearance.
”We were very fortunate to just get in that situation, and then Devo makes some pitches and gets out of the tnning,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said.
Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven opportunities, ending Tampa Bay’s five-game winning streak.
Marisnick’s homer in the fifth came off Ryan Yarbrough (7-4) and was his seventh of the season. It ended the Rays’ streak of 26 scoreless innings, the second-longest in franchise history.
It was the second homer and second multi-hit game in the last three days for Marisnick
Mike Daniels Jersey , who batted ninth for Houston.
”I’m just kind of relaxing and settling in, having a better idea of what I’m trying to do with each individual pitcher,” he said.
Tampa Bay ”bullpen day” starter Ryne Stanek walked two and struck out three in 1 2/3 hitless innings before Yarbrough took over. The rookie left-hander pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits while striking out four.
The Rays, who beat Washington 1-0 on Tuesday, became the first American League team team to play consecutive 1-0 games in the same season since the Los Angeles Angels did it on June 28-29, 2008.
AWARD TIME
Rays reliever Jose Alvarado had a mini Gold Glove Award in his locker, a gift from a stadium security guard after the left-hander played one batter at first base in-between stints on the mound during the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Washington. ”It was a little bit crazy,” Alvarado said through a translator. ”I’m just happy the team won.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: SS Carlos Correa missed a third straight game with a stiff back and will be placed on the 10-day disabled list Friday. … INF Yuli Gurriel is on the paternity list but might return this weekend.
Rays: RHP Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) had a three inning simulated game and should start a minor league rehab assignment next week. The opening-day starter could rejoin the rotation around the All-Star break.
UP NEXT
RHP Gerrit Cole (9-1) will go for his eighth straight win for the Astros on Friday night against RHP Wilmer Font (1-1). Font pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the New York Yankees on Saturday, the longest outing of his career, and earned his first major league win.
—
CHICAGO — Jon Lester may be having the best season of his career and the timing couldn’t have been better for the Chicago Cubs.
While the starting rotation has experienced its share of issues and the Cubs have struggled to find consistency
Authentic Todd Gurley Jersey , Lester has been more than steady. Lester takes a 10-2 mark into his 17th start of the season Sunday when the Cubs attempt to finish off a three-game sweep of the Minnesta Twins at Wrigley Field.
Lester has won six straight starts and allowed four runs in his five starts in June, which bodes well for a team that won its third straight game after Saturday’s 14-9 back-and-forth victory over the Twins.
Lester threw 119 pitches — a sign that at age 34 he has plenty of good work left in him — two starts back. He had thrown 106 pitches in six innings when manager Joe Maddon elected to keep Lester on the mound.
“At that point, what’s 15 or 20 more pitches,” Lester told reporters, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Said Maddon: “Jon gave what we needed.”
Lester has provided consistency while fellow starters Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood have struggled and Yu Darvish has battled injury. Lester will attempt to keep rolling Sunday against the Twins, against whom he is 3-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 12 career starts.
The Twins continued to struggle Saturday and lost for the seventh time in their last nine games. For the second straight day, Minnesota blew leads as the Cubs rallied from behind twice before scoring five runs in the seventh inning to snap a 9-9 tie.
Minnesota’s bullpen allowed 10 runs and for the second straight day the Twins were unable to match the Cubs’ offense, which pounded out 20 hits on a day when the temperatures were in the 90s and the heat index registered 107 degrees.
The Twins lost left fielder Eddie Rosario, catcher Bobby Wilson and outfielder Max Kepler during the game to heat illness. Cubs’ center fielder Albert Almora, Jr. also left with cramping because of the conditions.
“When the conditions are like that
JK Scott Jersey , you do the best you can to prepare them with nutrition and hydration and all those things, but it overtook three of our guys today,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters. “So it was just tough.”
Twins right-hander Lance Lynn will take the mound against a team he is familiar with from his days with the St. Louis Cardinals. Lynn enters Sunday’s start with a 5-6 record and a 4.81 ERA. He allowed five runs (four earned) and struck out eight in his last start against the Chicago White Sox.
Lynn is 6-6 with a 4.06 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) against the Cubs.
Lynn will try to bounce back from an outing in which he had a lead but couldn’t pitch out of trouble in his final inning.
“It’s frustrating, especially with the way things had been going all night. I had eight strikeouts in five and you’ve got 8-9 up, bases are loaded, even though it’s been kind of a funky inning, you want to have that chance,” Lynn told the team’s official website. “But with the way things had unfolded that inning, you get it. We’re trying to win the game.”
Konu Seçenekleri
