Rays' Rally Not Enough in 4-3 Loss to Astros on Monday Night
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TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays dug themselves a deep hole Monday night against the Houston Astros, and then dug themselves out of it. But it still wasn't enough in a 4-3 loss that dropped them to a season-low five games under .500.
It was more of the same for the Rays in their temporary home at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. They are now 11-18 on their home field after losing the series opener, and they are 21-26 on the year now. It ties their low water mark from April 22, when they were 9-14.
Ryan Pepiot started for the Rays, and had just one rough inning, giving up three runs in the second. Houston catcher Victor Caratini hit a solo home run with two outs, and then Pepiot gave up a walk, an RBI double to Cam Smith and an RBI single to Chas McCormick to put the Astros (25-22) ahead 3-0.
But the Rays bounced back. They scored twice in the fifth inning when second baseman Brandon Lowe led off with a single, and then Danny Jansen drove him in with a two-run homer to right field. They tied it in the sixth when Yandy Diaz and Jose Caballero opened the inning with back-to-back doubles off Houston starter Colton Gordon, who's a St. Petersburg native.
Pepiot kept the Rays in it with four scoreless innings after that second-inning explosion. He left with the score tied, but in the top of the seventh, Rays reliever Manuel Rodriguez gave up a home run to Jake Meyers on the second pitch of the at-bat, giving Houston a 4-3 lead.
The Rays had no answers after that. They had runners on in each of the final three innings, but could never push the tying run across. They were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, a recurring theme in these early-season struggles.
The two teams meet again on Tuesday night, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. ET. Zach Littell (3-5, 4.31 ERA) gets the start for Tampa Bay. Brandon Walter, a 28-year-old left-hander, will make his season debut for Houston. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2023 with Boston.
Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.
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