Moore strikes out 10 as Rays rout Astros
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay starter Matt Moore recorded his best game of the season, holding the Houston Astros to two hits in seven innings as the Rays claimed a series victory with a 5-0 win on Sunday at Tropicana Field.
Moore (3-4) matched his season high with 10 strikeouts, equaled his longest outing and set a season low for hits and runs - this after getting only one win in his previous nine starts. The Rays (29-32) took two of three games from the Astros (30-35), who saw starter Dallas Keuchel (3-9) pitch well until a rough fifth inning in which he gave up five runs.
Sunday's starters have both struggled in 2016 with losing records and ERAs over 5.00, but both pitched well early on by allowing a single hit in the first three innings. Keuchel gave up a second-inning single to Logan Morrison, and Moore didn't allow a hit until Jose Altuve's single in the third. Moore also had seven strikeouts in the first four innings.
The Rays broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning, getting to Keuchel after four dominant innings. Morrison, who had the Rays' first hit, opened the inning with a double, advanced on a single by Steven Souza Jr. and scored on a fielder's choice that Desmond Jennings beat out to avoid a double play.
Keuchel walked the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters in the Rays' lineup to load the bases, and Logan Forsythe's ground ball to third bounced off the glove of Luis Valbuena for an error and a 2-0 lead. Mikie Mahtook, hitting .160 and batting second in the Rays order, came through with a two-run single for a 4-0 lead, and Evan Longoria beat the defensive shift with a single to right field to cap the scoring.
Keuchel threw 35 pitches in the inning, allowing more runs in the fifth alone than he has in any of his last three starts.
The Rays get Monday off and then play host to Seattle for a three-game series. The Astros get Monday off before a two-game series at St. Louis, with another day off on Thursday.
NOTES: The Rays held a moment of silence before Sunday's game in honor of the victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Orlando, just 90 miles east of St. Petersburg. The video board at Tropicana Field also showed where fans can donate blood to help out. ... Astros 3B Luis Valbuena, who hit a solo home run in the ninth inning that ended up the deciding run in Saturday's win, entered Sunday with an eight-game hitting streak. Since May 1, Valbuena has the third-best OPS of any AL third basemen at .871, with the Rays' Evan Longoria atop the list at .981. ... All four of Rays SS Brad Miller's home runs at Tropicana Field this season have landed in the exact same section -- 148 -- in right-center field.