Game 1: Randy Arozarena homered twice, Brendan McKay went 6 1/3 strong innings - and the Rays still lost, thanks to a Ken Giles meltdown in the 9th 6-5. They took a 5-2 lead into the 9th at Minute Maid Park, with the normally reliable Giles on the mound, but he gave up a leadoff homer to Yordan Alvarez then got two outs but put two on, and pinch-hitter Francisco Lindor took him deep to walk it off for the Astros and give them 9 straight wins. McKay was a solid 6.2 7 2 2 1 4 considering the opponent and the ballpark, while Arozarena drove in 4 with a solo shot in the 2nd and a 3-run jack (his 12th) in the 3rd.
Trade time!
Ever since the Alamos took Devin "The Airbender" Williams in the expansion draft, I've been eyeing him as a potential acquisition, but the price was too high. Finally they came around and agreed to take Hubbard, who's hitting .356 at AA Montgomery, but is 27 and whose ratings belie that number. This begat another trade:
July 10: Traded RHP Shane Greene to the Chicago White Sox for minor-league LHP Andrew Perez.
Greene was the guy moved to make room for Williams. He's a solid vet but just wasn't working out and Williams is an upgrade. And we pick up a decent lefty relief prospect in Perez, a local product out of the University of South Florida who has 65 stuff, 55 movement (potential 65) and, uh, 40 control (45 potential). He rocks an 80 changeup and throws 93-95.
Game 2: Yonny Chirinos was handing out homers like Halloween candy as the Rays dropped their second straight to Houston 6-3, the Astros' 10th straight win. He gave up homers to Yordan Alvarez (solo) and Francisco Lindor (a 2-run shot) in the 4th but the Rays answered back with 3 in the top of the 5th to tie it keyed by a Brandon Lowe 2-run blast (#21). But Yonny allowed Kyle Tucker to take him deep leading off the 6th to break the tie, and Colin Poche struggled behind him, allowing 2 more runs. Chirinos drops to 9-3, 3.46 after his 5 5 4 4 0 2 outing.
Game 3: It was deja vu all over again as Ken Giles and the Rays bullpen blew another 9th-inning lead to lose another walk-off to the red-hot Astros, winners now of 11 consecutive. This time it was a 4-2 lead going into the 9th and Giles gave up a leadoff homer to pinch-hitter Zack Collins. After getting an out he hit Jose Altuve and with two lefties due up, I turned to Colin Poche again, which was a mistake as Kyle Tucker took him deep for the 5-4 win. The Rays had trouble keeping the ball in the park today and throughout the entire series as Houston hitters combined for 11 homers in the 3 games. Tyler Glasnow started and went an impressive 5 4 1 1 2 5 to give him an 0.50 ERA through 3 starts, but it took him 105 pitches and the lone run he allowed was an Alex Bregman homer. Devin Williams made his Rays debut in the 6th but the only airbending came off the bat of Bregman, who hit his 2nd of the game to give Houston a 2-1 lead. But the Rays struck for 3 in the top of the 7th with Brandon Lowe's 22nd HR tying it up and Ji-Man Choi's 2-run single giving them the lead to blow.
Team record: 60-27. This was the second sweep they've suffered this season, with the other coming in Minnesota, not the greatest omen as those are two teams they have a good shot at facing in the playoffs. Next up: An off-day then 3 at home against Baltimore. The Orioles took 2 of 3 from the Yankees to drop New York into the AL East cellar and the Yankees responded by dealing off their closer Chad Green to the Dodgers for a couple of pitching prospects including Brett De Geus.