HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- The Astros win streak is over at six games following a 9-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Thurday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
In a marathon affair that lasted four hours and six minutes, the Astros worked 10 walks, but finished just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, leaving 11 men on base.
The Astros sent Zack Greinke to the mound for his fifth start since the July 31 trade, and fell behind when Travis d'Arnaud singled home Ji-Man Choi in the second, but Robinson Chirinos' two-out RBI double in the next half inning tied the game. Austin Meadows and George Springer traded solo homers in the third inning, but following Avisail Garcia's one-out infield single, d'Arnaud smacked a 3-2 curveball from Greinke over the Crawford Boxes, putting the Rays up 4-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Astros took advantage of three walks and an error got one of the runs back to cut the lead in half, and grabbed the lead in the fifth thanks to five walks. Robinson Chirinos and Josh Reddick were put on with the bases loaded, but the Rays knocked Greinke out of the game in the sixth, and d'Arnaud tied the game with a two-out RBI single off Joe Smith, though the game didn't stay tied for long.
On the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth, Jose Altuve drove a Nick Anderson fastball over the centerfield wall for his 25th home run of the season, eclipsing his career-high, but the Rays didn't stay down for long and regained the lead with three runs in the seventh against Chris Devenski. The Astros answered with one on Reddick's RBI single, and with the tying run at second base, Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to closer Emilio Pagan.
Pagan ended the Astros threat by getting Jose Altuve to pop out, and after the Rays added an insurance run when Meadows grounded into a fielder's choice, Pagan worked around a single in the eighth. Abraham Toro started the ninth by hitting the first home run of his Major League career, but Pagan retired the next two and got Springer to lineout, ending the game for his 15th save of the season.
Altuve finished with two hits for the Astros, who drop to 87-48, while Toro walked three times to go with the home run.
d'Arnaud collected three hits for the Rays and drove home four runs. The top five hitters in the Rays lineup, Eric Sogard, Meadows, Tommy Pham, Choi, and Garcia had two hit days.
The Astros will begin a five game road trip Friday when they open a three-game series in Toronto.
