Rays Take Series From Astros as Marlins Continue to Struggle

The Tampa Bay Rays (29-32) played a home series against the Houston Astros (30-35) over the weekend taking two of the three games in the series.

#Rays blank Astros for their 3rd SHO on 2H or less—tying LAD for most in MLB. #RaysUp

Read: https://t.co/DiRV1VbO6Q pic.twitter.com/p5S8pT6ZQD

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 12, 2016

The Rays clinched the home series against the Astros yesterday winning 5-0.  The game was a stand-still pitching duel until Dallas Keuchel, last year’s Cy Young winner, had one bad inning in the bottom of the fifth.  The Rays capitalized getting five hits in the inning—starting off with a double from Logan Morrison—later scoring from a fielder’s choice who threw out Stephen Souza Jr. at second to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.

Continuing on the inning, the Astros gave up two walks and an error allowing Desmond Jennings to run home giving the Rays a 2-0 lead.  This was followed by a single hit by Mikie Mahtook to drive in Tim Beckham and Curt Casali to give the Rays a 4-0 lead.  Evan Longoria then singled to right field bringing in Logan Forsythe for a Rays lead, 5-0. Keuchel was pulled out of the game after the fifth inning to be replaced by Scott Feldman. Keuchel expressed his disappointment in how quickly the game turned against him.

Matt Moore pitching for the Rays, only allowed two hits through seven innings until he was replaced by Enny Romero. Rays manager, Kenny Cash expressed his feeling that Moore was spectacular on the mound. With the conclusion of the series, the Rays are still in last place in the AL East standings but are only 6.5 games behind the division leading Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. The Rays will start a series with the Seattle Mariners Tuesday.

The Miami Marlins (32-31) are currently on a road trip as they travelled over the weekend to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks (28-37). The Marlins started off the series strong winning the first game 8-6 before dropping the final two.

Unable to get the job done in series finale. RECAP: https://t.co/upGodXUtWI pic.twitter.com/5z9PByQrxL

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 13, 2016

The Marlins struggled to find hits in the finale losing 5-0. They only managed to find three hits against Arizona Diamondback pitcher Robbie Ray.  The team’s hitting woes continued with a batting average of .111 throughout the series.

Adam Conley struggled against the Diamondback’s allowing 11 hits in the five innings he pitched before he was replaced by Dustin McGowan. Conley expresses that it was an awful game for him.  McGowan pitched the remainder of the game and allowed no hits. With this series finished, the Marlins are in third place in the NL East trailing seven games behind the division leader Washington Nationals.  The Marlins hit the final stretch of their road trip as they take on the San Diego Padres in a three-game series starting today.