The final series of the divisional round is over. The Rays and Astros fought hard over five games to decide a winner. After losing two in a row, Gerrit Cole led his team to a crucial win in the final game.
Verlander Did What Verlander Does
The once named Devil Rays looked more like goldfishes. Justin Verlander made a fool out of the Tampa batters as he kept them hitless through the first four. Despite losing the no-hitter, he kept rolling trough the Rays’ order like a knife through hot butter. The Cy Young winner threw 8 shutout innings, striking out eight.
On the other hand, the Astros got to Rays’ Tayler Glasnow in the fifth. Jose Altuve opened the scoring with a two-run homer to right bringing Josh Reddick across the plate. That was followed by a fielding error by second baseman Brandon Lowe that brought Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman to score. Runs kept pouring for the Astros in the eight thanks to a pair of RBi doubles by Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel.
The Florida team tried to mount a comeback but they could only muster 2 off a pair of RBI hits by Eric Sogard and Austin Meadows. Astros took the series opener at home.
Final score: Rays 2-6 Astros
Astros Kept Rolling
Game 2 was a much tighter affair. Blake Snell and Gerrit Cole squared off on the mound. The Rays’ starter had little trouble on the mound for the first three innings. The fourth frame, however, was a different story. The 26-year-old gave up a homer to Bregman. The Astros were up by one. The game remained tight until the eighth, when Carlos Correa singled and drove in a pair of runs.
Cole had a strong outing for Houston, throwing 7⅔ inning and striking out 15. Tampa couldn’t do much with the bat until the top of the ninth. Avisail Garcia drove in a run for the road team, but that was that.
Final Score: Rays 1-3 Astros
Rays Comeback In Crushing Fashion
There was not much the Astros could do in their first game at Tropicana Field. Charlie Morton turned in a fantastic performance for Tampa on the mound. He threw 5 full innings, allowing a run and striking out 9. Zack Greinke, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. He lasted 3⅔ of an inning and gave up 6 runs, half of them coming off home runs.
Altuve went deep in the top of the first with a solo home run. Tampa’s Kevin Kiermaier got that run right back and some more with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the second. Ji-Man Choi hit another bomb to put the Rays up by three. Brandon Lowe, Meadows, and Tommy Pham did the job at the plate in the fourth as the Rays were up by seven in the middle innings. Gurriel drove in a run off an RBI single before Willy Adames and Travis d’Arnaud added two more runs to the tally. The Rays were still not done. Game 4 was up next.
Final Score: Astros 3-10 Rays
Tampa Bay’s Power Forces Game FIve
Verlander was not the same as in Game 1. Tampa got to him early and runs rained down on him. Pham went deep to center to open up the scoring. That was followed by an RBI single off the bat of d’Arnaud. Joey Wendle hit an RBI double after that to add another run to the lead.
Rays were up 3-0 by the end of the first.
Adames hit another homer to put his team up 4-0. The Astro offense woke up late as Altuve hit a solo home run to put his team on the scoreboard. Houston ran out of chances to tie the game. Both teams traveled back to Texas for the fifth and final game of the series.
Final score: Astros 1-4 Rays
Gerrit Cole Comes Up Big
Cole was a man on a mission in the final game of the ALDS. He threw eight full innings, allowing a single run and striking out 10. Tyler Glasnow pitched 2⅔ innings before handing out the baseball to his bullpen.
Altuve, Bregman, and Gurriel put the Astros up by 4 early. Eric Sogard got the Rays on the board in the top of the second with a solo home run. The game sailed along for a while after that as both teams kept the opposing batters in check.
The Astros had a big eighth inning as Altuve and Brantly hit back to back homers to widen their lead. Roberto Osuna got the final three outs to send Houston to the 2019 ALCS.
Final Score: Rays 1-6 Astros
Where To Watch
The Astros will take on New York in the 2019 ALCS. Series kicks off this Saturday at 8:08 P.M. E.T. on FOX.
ICYMI: Cardinals and Nationals also made it to the Championship round.
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