Houston native Shane Baz was rolling — until he wasn’t.
Baz was cruising through the first four frames with the aid of a first inning lead by way of a Yandy Diaz sacrifice fly.
Two more Rays runs came in the fourth and fifth from Chandler Simpson walking, stealing second and third base, and scoring on a throwing error, and a Junior Caminero RBI single. More on him later.
The big inning once again did not elude Baz deep in the heart of Texas, as Yainer Diaz homered, Cam Smith hit a double, and Mauricio Dubon and Jeremy Peña reached via singles in the fifth. The only thing that stopped the inning from continuing to spiral is a sliding catch by Kameron Misner to stunt the rally.
However, in the sixth, Jose Altuve homered to knot the game up at three, a sight all too similar from the first six weeks of the Rays’ 2025 campaign.
But as of late, this Tampa Bay bunch has shown resiliency.
Lefty Bryan King entered for Houston in the seventh, and Tampa Bay may have had a tip.
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Josh Lowe singled, Brandon Lowe was hit by a pitch, and Diaz singled in Josh Lowe, all consecutively. This is noteworthy amid the Rays’ documented issues against southpaws this season.
Jonathan Aranda doubled to plate Brandon Lowe, and the man of the night, La Maxima played up to his name.
In the eighth, both the Lowe’s walked, followed by a Diaz strikeout and an Aranda walk.
Caminero doubled to plate both Lowe’s, and Kameron Misner doubled to plate Aranda and Caminero.
Jose Caballero also got in on the fun as he missed a home run by mere inches, hitting the top padding of the Daikin Park Crawford Boxes and careening back into play. Misner scored on the reviewed Caballero double.
The final score of the series opener is 13-3, and tomorrow’s probably starting pitchers are Ryan Pepiot opposite left-handed Framber Valdez for Houston at 8:10 EST in Houston.