The Tampa Bay Rays closed out the Houston Astros 14-4 on Sept. 13 at Tropicana Field to complete a franchise-record 15th sweep of the season.
The Rays had their second-highest scoring game of the season, behind their 16 run outing against the Baltimore Orioles on May 24. Tampa Bay will now end a season with 90 or more wins for the 10th time in team’s 29-year history.
Recap
Tampa Bay’s lineup got out to a faster start than the previous two games. Hitter Yandy Diaz led off the first inning with a single and third baseman Junior Caminero doubled. Then, a triple from outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. ran both base runners home. Mesa Jr. followed them home one pitch later thanks to a groundout from outfielder Chandler Simpson.
The base hit from Mesa Jr. extended his hitting streak to nine games, tying Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers for the second-longest in the American League.
Tampa Bay’s next runs came in the third to the fault of an error from Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena that turned a routine pop out from Rays outfielder Johnny DeLuca to an RBI single and a 4-0 lead. Rays second baseman Richie Palacios added insult to injury on the next pitch, popping a ball just beyond right field for three more runs and his 10th homer of the season.
Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda nearly scored the walk-off in Game 1 when his double in the ninth nearly crept over the right boundary. Aranda got one to skim over the left wall in this game, in the fourth, to put the Rays up 8-0. Simpson made it a nine run lead with an RBI single, scoring Mesa Jr. from second later that inning.
Tampa Bay added to its lead in the fifth when catcher Nick Fortes launched a two-run homer. In the seventh, an RBI single by Diaz was followed by another Aranda home run, which scored Diaz and accounted for the Rays’ final four runs.
Rays starter Freddy Peralta has found his stride in Tampa Bay, allowing just two runs over his previous three starts and holding the opposition hitless through five innings in his latest outing. When Rays starting pitcher Freddy Peralta was traded to the Rays on August 2 from the New York Mets, he had a 4.99 ERA. It’s now down to 4.69.
Brody Hopkins, making his major league debut after being called up from Triple-A Durham on Sept. 12, allowed the Astros first hit and runs of the contest, surrendering a two-run homer to third baseman Issac Paredes in the sixth inning. Houston scored its final two runs in the eighth off of back-to-back home runs to left-center by infielder Nick Allen and outfielder Nelson Velazquez.
Peralta and the Rays bullpen notably kept Astros hitter and American League batting leader Yordan Alvarez hitless in his return from injury.
Tampa Bay will attempt to widen its four-game gap over the New York Yankees for the American League’s top spot with a series-opening win against the Athletics on Sept. 15 at 6:40 p.m. EST.