Astros at Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays have battled their way back to the .500 mark despite a difficult schedule over the last few weeks and hope to keep it going when they host the Houston Astros on Sunday for the finale of a four-game set. The Rays have won nine of their last 12 contests while facing the American League West-leading Astros six times, the powerful New York Yankees for four more and beating Max Scherzer during a two-game sweep of Washington.
Tampa Bay has been outstanding on the mound while giving up just five runs over its last five games, including a 5-2 win Saturday, and will send ace left-hander Blake Snell to the mound Sunday in search of the team’s 11th win in 12 home games. Snell has been one of the best starting pitchers in the AL most of this season and he takes on right-hander Charlie Morton in a matchup of two 10-game winners who could end up in the All-Star Game in a few weeks. Houston has dropped consecutive games for the first time since losing three in a row from June 2-5 and have scored four times in the last two against the Rays - all on a pair of two-run homers by red-hot Alex Bregman, who is 12-for-25 during a six-game hitting streak with five blasts. All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa (back) was placed on the disabled list Friday, but the Astros could see the return of first baseman Yuli Gurriel from the paternity list Sunday after he missed three straight games.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Charlie Morton (10-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. Rays LH Blake Snell (10-4, 2.31)
Morton rebounded from two straight tough outings to win his last three starts while allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits and 10 walks over 19 innings combined. The 34-year-old New Jersey native permitted one unearned run on two hits over six innings to beat Tampa Bay on June 20 and struck out 13 in seven scoreless frames in 7-0 win against Toronto six days later. Carlos Gomez is 6-for-18 with a homer versus Morton, who is 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA in his career against the Rays.
Snell held Washington to one hit and worked around four walks across seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts last Monday for his sixth win in his last seven decisions. The 25-year-old Seattle native limited Houston to one run on three hits and a season-high seven walks to earn the win on June 19, improving to 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA in four career starts versus the Astros. Jose Altuve is 3-for-7 with two homers against Snell, who is 5-1 with a 0.81 ERA in seven home starts this year.
WALK-OFFS
1. Houston OF George Springer is 0-for-13 in his last four contests and 3-for-49 during a 13-game span after striking out three times Saturday.
2. Tampa Bay 3B Matt Duffy is 13-for-35 during his current nine-game hitting streak after posting three hits Saturday.
3. Altuve had a pair of hits Saturday to raise his batting average to a major league-leading .342.