Tampa Bay Rays vs Houston Astros Box Score on Aug 01, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 1, 2017

HOUSTON -- Evan Longoria hit for the second cycle in franchise history, and the Tampa Bay Rays fended off the Houston Astros 6-4 on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

Longoria homered in the first inning, hit an RBI triple in the third, singled in the seventh and doubled in the ninth.

Logan Morrison clubbed his 27th homer while recording a pair of RBIs for the Rays (55-53), who squared their four-game series with the Astros (69-37). Morrison delivered a timely insurance run with a run-scoring single of Reymin Guduan in the seventh inning, plating Corey Dickerson and extending the lead to 6-2.

Houston chased Rays right-hander Chris Archer (8-6) when Marwin Gonzalez and Carlos Beltran reached to open the bottom of the seventh, with Beltran driving home Gonzalez with a single. Beltran subsequently scored on an Alex Bregman groundout, but Rays right-hander Tommy Hunter snuffed that rally by inducing an inning-ending groundball from Jose Altuve.

Beltran and Bergman hit their 13th and 12th home runs, respectively, off Archer in the fifth. Astros right-hander Mike Fiers (7-6) allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.

Fiers, plagued by the long ball earlier in the season, logged seven consecutive starts without surrendering a home run between late May and early July. However, for the second time in the past month, Fiers allowed a pair of homers in a start, with Longoria and Morrison going back-to-back in the first to spot Archer a 3-0 lead before he even took the mound.

Fiers labored through the third inning before finally settling down, stringing together scoreless frames in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

He allowed a run-scoring triple to Longoria and an RBI single to Adeiny Hechavarria in the third that helped the Rays extend to a 5-0 lead.

That cushion enabled Archer to ramp up the aggression and keep Houston in pursuit for the rest of the game. Archer gave up four runs on six hits and no walks in six-plus innings. He struck out five.

NOTES: Rays RF Steven Souza Jr. was a late scratch due to a left foot contusion, an injury he sustained in the series opener on Monday night. CF Peter Bourjos was added to the lineup with Mallex Smith shifting from center to right. ... The Astros activated LHP Francisco Liriano, who was acquired on Monday from the Toronto Blue Jays. Liriano started and worked six innings Saturday, so he was unavailable out of the Houston bullpen. ... The Astros placed RHP Michael Feliz (right shoulder discomfort) and LHP Tony Sipp (right calf soreness) on the 10-day disabled list. Houston recalled RHP Jordan Jankowski from Triple-A Fresno.