Rays look to gradual surging Astros

The cities keep changing for the Houston Astros, but one thing remains the same: The first-place club in the American League West just keeps winning.

After taking two games from the rival Texas Rangers and sweeping the Boston Red Sox in three-game road series, the Astros will attempt to win a third consecutive set away from Houston when they face the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Tuesday night.

In Monday’s series opener against Tampa Bay, Houston kept its momentum by thoroughly outhitting and outpitching the Rays, who fell to 16-23 in series openers this season.

Left-hander Framber Valdez dominated the home side, fanning nine and allowing just one run in 5 2/3 innings.

The big blow came from catcher Yainer Diaz, who cranked a three-run homer as the Astros improved to 6-1 on their nine-game road swing.

Houston first-year manager Joe Espada’s club was 10 games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners in the AL West on June 18, but it now leads its division rival by a half-game.

“162 (games), right? It’s a long season,” Espada said. “These players know how to run that marathon. They’re trained to run marathons, and they’re really good at it.

“They all lean on each other, believe in one another. We know how to pick each other up. They just know how to win.”

Yusei Kikuchi (5-9, 4.62 ERA) will pitch on Tuesday and hopes to win for the second time in three starts since arriving in Houston.

Traded to the Astros on July 29 by the AL East’s Toronto Blue Jays, the left-hander will make his 12th career appearance (11th start) against his former division rival.

Kikuchi is 5-2 with a 3.67 ERA against the Rays.

In his most recent outing, Kikuchi earned a win against the Rangers last Wednesday after giving up two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

After salvaging a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday in the finale of a three-game series, Tampa Bay failed to carry any momentum into its set with the streaking Astros.

The Rays’ bats went silent on Monday — a nasty result that has transformed from a standings-hampering trend into a season-long slump for the most part — and starting pitcher Taj Bradley, the AL Pitcher of the Month in July, was out of sorts in taking his third consecutive loss.

Offensively, Tampa Bay recorded only four hits, including a double and a triple from Taylor Walls, and five starters from Monday’s lineup are now hitting below .200 for the season.

“We’re putting in the work, (but) nothing’s coming easy for us right now at the plate,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash, whose club slipped to .500 through 118 games. “Not just Jonny (DeLuca) or Curtis (Mead) but one through nine. We probably haven’t done our best at adjusting within a game.”

With the setback, the Rays remained in fourth place in the AL East and fell to 31-32 at home.

Right-hander Shane Baz (0-1, 4.30) can help Tampa Bay get back on track after taking a no-decision against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, yielding four runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Baz also failed to factor into the decision in his lone career start against Houston, allowing two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings back on Aug. 2.

–Field Level Media