TAMPA, Fla. – It was an odd series in Houston, wasn’t it? The Rays outscored the Astros by an eye-opening 30-9, yet settled for a split of their four-game series. That’s what happens when 29 runs are scored in the two wins while Ryan Pepiot and Taj Bradley are left wondering why at least a little wealth was not spread in their direction during, respectively, Friday night’s 2-1 loss and Sunday afternoon’s 1-0 defeat.
Speaking of Pepiot, he was lifted with two outs in the seventh after 93 pitches and blanking the Astros on two hits. His body language screamed when manager Kevin Cash strolled to the mound to remove him and summon Kevin Kelly from the bullpen. Pepiot did not figure in the decision.
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Zack Littell then threw 117 pitches in his first MLB complete game, and the Rays’ first since Ryan Yarbrough in 2021, during Saturday’s 16-3 win. It was the most pitches thrown in the majors since Kevin Gausman’s 118 in a complete game victory for Toronto last July.
Bradley followed Littell’s effort in equaling his career high with 104 pitches, a quantity he also threw at Minnesota last June. The righthander allowed an unearned run and only three hits while fanning a season-high 10 in seven innings in taking the loss.
“What they did this series, what they’ve done here over the last 10 games or so, they’re really giving us every opportunity to win,” Cash said of the rotation, which has a miniscule 0.81 WHIP and 1.36 ERA in 66 1/3 innings in the last 10 games.
Caminero earns league honors
In Saturday’s rout at Houston, Junior Caminero became the first player in team history to have at least four extra-base hits (two homers, two doubles) and five RBI in the same game. He drove in six runs in the series opener, 11 in the four games against the Astros and finished the week with 13 RBI.
The third baseman also had four homers, four doubles and scored eight runs in seven games to share American League player of the week honors with Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, who hit six home runs in as many games. Caminero heads into Tuesday night’s game against Texas hitting .262 and a team-leading 13 homers and 37 RBI.
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Six-Game Homestand Features Rangers, Marlins
The Rays (31-29) have slipped to third in the American League East, 6.5 games behind the Yankees and a game behind the Blue Jays, who have won five in a row. The rotation seeks to maintain its edge when Bruce Bochy’s Rangers (29-31, third AL West) visit Steinbrenner Field for a three-game series commencing Tuesday night at 7:05.
Drew Rasmussen (4-4), who has a streak of three straight outings of six innings and no runs for an overall scoreless stretch of 18 innings, takes the mound for the Rays. He will be opposed by righthander Tyler Mahle (5-2), whose 1.64 ERA is good for third in the American League.
With his shutout streak, Rasmussen has reduced his ERA from 3.38 to 2.33, a figure that would place seventh in the AL given the righthander had enough innings to qualify for league leadership. Alas, he is all of two innings shy.
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