Another tough one...
For about 4 1/2 innings it looked like things might be different as the Rays took a 3-0 lead and
Gabe Bryant was pitching effectively. But Bryant gave up a 3-run homer in the 5th to put Houston ahead, and although
Luis Berumen's RBI single in the 6th tied it up, all it ended doing was prolonging the agony as the Rays fell into an 0-2 ALCS hole after the Astros won it in the 14th off the hapless
Stan LeVea who now has taken both losses. As much as LeVea was the goat, blame needs to fall on the offense which took the last 8 innings off and had a chance to go ahead in the top of the 14th with two men on. To make matters worse we've lost slugging 1B
Danny Charlton for the rest of the season with plantar fascitis after legging out a double, so "bleak" is the operative word right now as the Rays now need to win 4 out of 5 against a 111+ win team.
Leo Gutierrez will take the mound at the Trop in two days to try to right the ship.
Meanwhile life is a little better for a couple of former Rays as Joe Stack and Orlando Tosado each homered in the 8th to give the Mets a 4-3 win over the Dodgers in their NLCS opener, spoiling a great outing from another former Ray, James Hays:
