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Art Deco · 01-12-2026, 01:09 PM

The Rays played a tough series with their arch-nemesis, the Houston Astros, and came through with a series triumph which included a couple of dramatic walk-off wins. It doesn't make up for perennial playoff elimination at the hands of this team but it'll do for now.

The opener went Houston's way, however, as the bats couldn't do much and the Astros took a 3-1 win. Danny Morales (7-8) largely pitched well except for one sequence in the third when he put two men on and gave up a homer, which was enough to lose the game as he finished 7 8 3 3 1 6. Victor Gonzalez's solo homer (#16) in the 7th was it for Tampa Bay.

The second game was one of the wildest of the year as the Rays overcame a couple of late deficits with clutch hits and ended up prevailing over Houston 8-7 in 14 innings. Things started off in "here we go again" mode when the Astros scored 4 in the top of the 1st off Leo Gutierrez but the Rays responded with 5 of their own in the bottom of the frame with the big blow a 3-run Victor Gonzalez homer. Gutierrez settled down but Houston tied it off him in the 6th, leaving him with a 6 8 5 5 1 7 line and the Astros went ahead 6-5 in the 8th with a homer off Stephen Farrior, who has now allowed 5 homers in only 11 innings since joining the club. But Gonzalez came through again, homering (#18) for the second time tonight and third in two games leading off the bottom of the 9th to tie it. Things looked bleak once again in the 13th when the Astros took the lead again only for Rogelio Fitzgerald to come through with another clutch homer (#13/21) leading off the bottom of the inning and after the Rays loaded the bases in the 14th Justin Blackwell delivered a sac fly to walk it off with the win going to Danny Mauricio (2-0).

Transaction: It's been a kind of lost season for slugging OF Tony Fisher, who just started getting going but was still hitting only 218/318/412 with 9 homers while playing with on-and-off elbow and ankle injuries. And he re-injured the elbow seriously enough on a throw home that he'll miss 6-7 weeks. Willis Ramirez has hit .336 as the fourth OF and was already spelling Fisher occasionally against righties, and will take over in LF against them. To replace Fisher on the roster and to play LF against LHP is 2038 first-round pick Isaac Gardener, who is primarily a 3B but a plus defender in the OF corners. Gardener, who was hitting 327/400/455 at Durham, was originally viewed as Danny Arroyave's heir apparent at the hot corner before Victor Gonzalez was acquired in the off-season, and now will get a chance to show his versatility.

As drama-filled as last night's game was the finale was just about its equal as the Rays came off to the mat to take a 4-2 win in 11 innings over Houston. Sebastian Burns pitched well again (6 5 2 2 1 2) but the offense was moribund for 8 innings, managing only 3 hits and Tampa Bay trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. Then with one out that man again, Victor Gonzalez, drilled a 2-run homer off former Ray Josh Scanlon, to tie it up. The homer was Gonzalez's 4th of the series. And in the 11th another of yesterday's heroes did it again as Rogelio Fitzgerald walked it off with a 2-run shot (#14/22) to give the Rays the series. Danny Mauricio (3-0) picked up the win for the second straight day, this time after throwing 3 scoreless innings in relief for a tired bullpen.

Team record: 50-25. The division lead stands at 6 1/2 games. Next up: An off-day then we head north to Minnesota for 3 games.

01-12-2026, 01:09 PM	#1618
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,753	June 22-24, 2040: vs Houston (3) The Rays played a tough series with their arch-nemesis, the Houston Astros, and came through with a series triumph which included a couple of dramatic walk-off wins. It doesn't make up for perennial playoff elimination at the hands of this team but it'll do for now. The opener went Houston's way, however, as the bats couldn't do much and the Astros took a 3-1 win. Danny Morales (7-8) largely pitched well except for one sequence in the third when he put two men on and gave up a homer, which was enough to lose the game as he finished 7 8 3 3 1 6. Victor Gonzalez's solo homer (#16) in the 7th was it for Tampa Bay. The second game was one of the wildest of the year as the Rays overcame a couple of late deficits with clutch hits and ended up prevailing over Houston 8-7 in 14 innings. Things started off in "here we go again" mode when the Astros scored 4 in the top of the 1st off Leo Gutierrez but the Rays responded with 5 of their own in the bottom of the frame with the big blow a 3-run Victor Gonzalez homer. Gutierrez settled down but Houston tied it off him in the 6th, leaving him with a 6 8 5 5 1 7 line and the Astros went ahead 6-5 in the 8th with a homer off Stephen Farrior, who has now allowed 5 homers in only 11 innings since joining the club. But Gonzalez came through again, homering (#18) for the second time tonight and third in two games leading off the bottom of the 9th to tie it. Things looked bleak once again in the 13th when the Astros took the lead again only for Rogelio Fitzgerald to come through with another clutch homer (#13/21) leading off the bottom of the inning and after the Rays loaded the bases in the 14th Justin Blackwell delivered a sac fly to walk it off with the win going to Danny Mauricio (2-0). Transaction: It's been a kind of lost season for slugging OF Tony Fisher, who just started getting going but was still hitting only 218/318/412 with 9 homers while playing with on-and-off elbow and ankle injuries. And he re-injured the elbow seriously enough on a throw home that he'll miss 6-7 weeks. Willis Ramirez has hit .336 as the fourth OF and was already spelling Fisher occasionally against righties, and will take over in LF against them. To replace Fisher on the roster and to play LF against LHP is 2038 first-round pick Isaac Gardener, who is primarily a 3B but a plus defender in the OF corners. Gardener, who was hitting 327/400/455 at Durham, was originally viewed as Danny Arroyave's heir apparent at the hot corner before Victor Gonzalez was acquired in the off-season, and now will get a chance to show his versatility. As drama-filled as last night's game was the finale was just about its equal as the Rays came off to the mat to take a 4-2 win in 11 innings over Houston. Sebastian Burns pitched well again (6 5 2 2 1 2) but the offense was moribund for 8 innings, managing only 3 hits and Tampa Bay trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. Then with one out that man again, Victor Gonzalez, drilled a 2-run homer off former Ray Josh Scanlon, to tie it up. The homer was Gonzalez's 4th of the series. And in the 11th another of yesterday's heroes did it again as Rogelio Fitzgerald walked it off with a 2-run shot (#14/22) to give the Rays the series. Danny Mauricio (3-0) picked up the win for the second straight day, this time after throwing 3 scoreless innings in relief for a tired bullpen. Team record: 50-25. The division lead stands at 6 1/2 games. Next up: An off-day then we head north to Minnesota for 3 games.