[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays took a hard-fought 5-4 win over the much-improved Astros and it took the bullpen to pitch out of several jams to get it done. Leo Ortega (now 3-0) started and he was whiffing everyone in sight, except when he was giving up hits and homers as he ended 5 6 3 3 0 11. He gave up a solo homer to Isaac Paredes in the 4th and probably shouldn't have come back out for the 6th on 91 pitches but he did and gave up a solo shot to Shohei Ohtani which made it 5-3. Bob Sirna came on and loaded the bases but got out of it with a double play, and Mike Wherry took over in the 6th, loading the bases himself with 2 out requiring Kikuo Kawase to come in. Kawase walked the first man he faced to force in a run at 5-4, but whiffed Bo Naylor to end the inning. He gave up a hit in the 8th but struck out the side around it so he now has 23 Ks in 10 IP. Finally Jim Connors came in for the 9th and hit a man but got a double play grounder of his own to end the game and nab his 5th save. Phew! On offense they jumped on David Villegas for 3 in the 1st on a 2-run shot from Omar Rodriguez (#4) and a back-to-back jack from Nate Clark (an AL-best #8). Clark added an RBI single in the 2nd and a sac fly in the 4th but the Rays bats were silenced from there, held hitless over the final 4 1/3 by the Houston bullpen.

Game 2: The Rays took a 4-0 lead and ending up scoring 9 runs, which about 98% of the time is a prescription for a win but not today as they fell to Houston 12-9. The normally reliable bullpen was anything but, and Nate Schultz didn't help matters by giving away that 4-0 lead immediately in the 2nd. Schultz confined the damage to the 2nd and left with a 5-4 lead, but his 5 4 4 4 5 5 line wasn't anything to be happy about as he had only walked 2 in his first 3 starts total. Bob Sirna gave up the tying run in the 6th and then all hell broke loose in the 7th against the usually solid Tim Siqueiros, who gave up a pair of runs before allowing a 3-run homer for 5 runs against in the inning. And although Chris Hicks got through the 8th and allowed the Rays to creep back within 10-8, he too was tagged for a couple of runs in the 9th, walking 3 in total as Rays pitchers issued 10 free passes today (and hit a man). The offensive stars for the Rays were Dayle Jenkins (4-5 with an RBI and a steal), Victor de Jesus (on base 4 times, 2-2 with HR #5 and 2 RBI), and Rodolfo Rivas (2-4 with HR #4 in the 9th). Alex Buitrago had a 2-run single to give him 20 RBI in 15 games. With the ball a bit more juiced this year, Publix Park is playing like Coors Field at times.

Game 3: The Rays took the rubber match of their series with Houston thanks to a 10-3 blowout. Like yesterday they scored 4 in the first to take a big early lead, but unlike yesterday they didn't squander it as Jon Soranno recovered from allowing runs in each of the first 2 innings to shut down the Astros from there, going an impressive 7 7 2 2 0 7 and improving to 3-0, 3.57. Dayle Jenkins turned in his second straight 4-hit game to pace the offense as they banged out 17 hits, all of which stayed in the park. Ricky Widmar was 3-5 with a 2-run triple, Nate Clark 2-4 with a 2-run double, and Jaiden Hardaway was 2-5 with 2 RBI. Melvin Gutierrez, giving a tired Bo Angeac a rest, was the only Ray not to get a hit although he did walk, steal a base and score a run. And to give the beleaguered bullpen a blow, Rodolfo Rivas pitched the final two innings, and showed off his 95-97 mph gas by whiffing 4 although he did give up a solo homer.

Team record: 15-5. Next up: We hit the road to visit Charm City, taking on the Orioles for 3.