Die Nacktbar » RHP Luis Cessa (0-0, 3.00 ERA) will make

Justin Verlander’s worst start with the Houston Astros might have been OK if not for Wilson Ramos.

Ramos drove in four runs in the first two innings against Verlander and the Tampa Bay Rays went on to a 5-2 win over the Astros on Saturday.

”I wasn’t sharp Ben Powers Jersey , but also I didn’t have luck on my side,” Verlander said. ”I made an adjustment during the third inning that I thought was good, but it was too little too late.”

Verlander (9-4) gave up the most runs (5) and hits (9) of any of his 23 starts since his trade to Houston late last summer. He struck out eight in a season-low five innings after coming in with a major league-leading 1.82 ERA – though it was 4.34 in six June starts. The Astros have lost his last three starts.

Matt Duffy finished with three hits, including two in the first two innings, to help the Rays win for the seventh time in eight tames to move to .500 (41-41) for the first time since June 1.

”I gave up three hard-hit balls, all to the same guy. The rest of `em, nobody hit the ball hard,” Verlander said.

Ramos got the Rays on the scoreboard with a two-run double in the first, and made it 5-0 with a two-run single in the second. Those two at bats summarized Verlander’s day.

”The first at bat, I put him in a 3-1 situation where, bases loaded, he knows a heater’s coming, and he hit it off the wall. So that’s my fault http://www.ravensfootballauthentics.com/iman-marshall-jersey-authentic ,” Verlander said. ”His next bat I got a ground ball up the middle on a slider, which is kind of what you’re looking for. But it found a hole.”

Tampa Bay has held opponents to two runs or fewer in five straight games for only the second time in franchise history.

”The way these guys are throwing right now, we’re tough to beat,” said Kevin Kiermaier, who scored in each of the first two innings.

Alex Bregman got the Astros on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth off Vidal Nuno. It was Bregman’s 16th home run and his fifth in six games.

”They’ve been throwing the ball well over there, and we haven’t really been able to put anything together,” Bregman said. ”Verlander was a little unfortunate today with some of the weak contact that went for hits, but we’ve got to do a better job of putting up runs for him.

Nuno (2-0) got the win after pitching 4 2/3 innings of relief, giving up two runs and four hits while striking out four. Sergio Romo pitched ninth for his seventh save in 11 opportunities.

Ryne Stanek pitched the first inning for Tampa Bay, giving up a single to Jose Altuve, Houston’s only hit in the first four innings.

RARE ERROR

Adeiny Hechavarria made a fielding error on George Springer’s grounder in the top of the sixth just before Bregman’s homer. It ended a streak of 94 games and 319 chances in which the Rays’ shortstop had not committed a miscue. It was the longest errorless streak in franchise history for a shortstop. Hechavarria’s last error had come on July 30, 2017 at Yankee Stadium.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Joe Smith (sore right elbow) will make what the Astros expect to be a final rehab appearance at Double-A Corpus Christi before being activated. … 1B Yuli Gurriel (paternity leave) is expected to be back in the lineup Sunday.

Rays: RHP Wilmer Font was placed on the 10-day disabled and RHP Hunter Wood was recalled from Triple-A Durham. Manager Kevin Cash said an optimistic timeframe has Font missing eight weeks. … Cash didn’t completely rule out RHP Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) from returning after his first rehab start Tuesday night锟?for Class A Charlotte.

UP NEXT

The series finale will be a matchup of two of baseball’s hottest pitchers. Houston RHP Charlie Morton (10-1, 2.54) has won three straight starts and has not given up an earned run in his last two. LHP Blake Snell (10-4 Trace McSorley Jersey , 2.31) did not give up a hit until the seventh inning of the Rays’ 11-0 win against Washington on Monday night.

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Luis Severino is making a strong case to start the All-Star Game for the American League.

Severino became the majors’ first 12-game winner, Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius homered and the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 Tuesday night.

Severino (12-2) struck out nine in seven dominant innings, lowering his ERA to 2.10. The ace has allowed three runs or less in 16 of 17 starts.

”It would mean a lot,” Severino said about taking the mound in the Midsummer Classic on July 17. ”But I’m thinking about five more days and what hitters I’ll be facing.”

Jake Arrieta (5-6) had another rough outing for Philadelphia, which had won four consecutive series before losing two straight to the Yankees. Arrieta gave up six runs – three earned – and nine hits in five innings.

Another sellout crowd in Philly made it sound like a home game for the Bronx Bombers, cheering loudly for the team with the best record in the majors. Meanwhile, Phillies fans tried to drown them out by chanting ”E-A-G-L-E-S.”

Hicks hit Arrieta’s third pitch of the game out to straightaway center for his 11th homer. Arrieta was 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA in five starts in June after posting a 0.90 ERA in five starts last month.

An error by second baseman Cesar Hernandez led to three unearned runs in the third. Arrieta has allowed 14 unearned runs this season and has expressed frustration with the team’s defense. The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner is earning $30 million this season as part of a $75 million, three-year contract he signed as a free agent in March.

With two runners on, Gregorius hit a grounder to Hernandez that should have been an inning-ending double play. But Hernandez flipped wide to shortstop Scott Kingery and all three runners were safe. Arrieta struck out Giancarlo Stanton for the second out. But Gleyber Torres hit a two-run single past third baseman Maikel Franco’s diving attempt. Greg Bird followed with a bloop single to left to make it 4-0.

”It’s always difficult when you get a grounder and we don’t make the play,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. ”We win and lose as a team.”

Austin Romine led off the fourth with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Hicks’ sacrifice fly. Gregorius drove his 15th homer out to right-center in the fifth.

Severino has come a long way in less than two seasons. He was 0-8 with an 8.50 ERA in 11 starts in 2016. But the 24-year-old righty finished third in AL Cy Young voting last year and went to the All-Star Game. Now he’s one of the elite pitchers in baseball.

”Every time I get the ball, I want to win,” he said.

Severino’s fastball was consistently in the upper 90s against the overmatched Phillies.

”The life on his fastball seemed really special Kyler Murray Jersey ,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Adam Warren and Chasen Shreve each tossed one inning to finish off the six-hitter for the Yankees (52-25).

CONSISTENCY

Severino has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14 consecutive starts, the longest such streak by a Yankees starter since 2014, when Masahiro Tanaka did it in 16 straight. His 12 wins are the most by a Yankees pitcher before the All-Star break since Tanaka had 12 in 2014.

STREAKING

Kingery has a career-best seven-game hitting streak.

GLOVE WORK

Hicks made a superb catch to rob Rhys Hoskins of extra bases in the eighth, leaping a few feet in front of the wall to grab a deep drive to left-center.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Tanaka, on the 10-day disabled list since June 9 with strained left and right hamstrings, threw his second bullpen session. Boone isn’t sure what the next step will be in Tanaka’s rehab.

Phillies: RHP Pat Neshek allowed one run and two hits in one inning in a rehab appearance at Double-A Reading. Neshek, an All-Star last year, hasn’t pitched this season because of shoulder strain.

UP NEXT

RHP Luis Cessa (0-0, 3.00 ERA) will make his first start for the Yankees since last August 14 on Wednesday night. RHP Zach Eflin (5-2, 3.42 ERA) takes the mound for Philadelphia in the series finale.

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