Jose Siri utilized his exceptional speed to manufacture the decisive run in the top of the ninth inning as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays claimed a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday.
Siri opened the ninth with a hustle double to left field off Astros closer Ryan Pressly (3-3) before advancing to third on a flyout to right and later scoring when Yandy Diaz added a sacrifice fly. Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker positioned himself perfectly behind the ball and fired a strike to catcher Martin Maldonado, but Siri was too fast and the play at home wasn't particularly close.
Four Rays relievers combined to hold Houston hitless over the final four innings. Pete Fairbanks notched his 13th save by working around a one-out walk to Chas McCormick in the ninth.
Astros right-hander Cristian Javier survived a ragged start to his outing, with the Rays striking for three runs in the top of the first.
Wander Franco smacked a one-out triple to left-center and Javier followed by hitting Randy Arozarena with a pitch, the first of his three hit batsmen, before looping a first-pitch slider that Brandon Lowe deposited into the right-field seats for his 12th home run.
Javier righted himself by striking out the side in the second and recording three flyball outs, all to McCormick in center, in the third. He loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth but rallied with strikeouts of Josh Lowe and Siri before inducing another flyout to center.
Javier closed his outing having allowed three runs on three hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. It marked the first time in six starts that Javier logged at least six innings, and he threw a season-high 104 pitches.
The Astros chipped away at that three-run deficit starting in the first inning when Jose Altuve laced a leadoff triple to left-center and scored when Jeremy Pena followed with a run-scoring groundout. Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan surrendered three singles over the ensuing two innings but also recorded five strikeouts over that span to avoid significant danger.
He wasn't so fortunate in the fourth when Yordan Alvarez produced a leadoff single and Jose Abreu followed with a two-run homer to left, with his ninth dinger pulling the Astros even at 3-3.
McClanahan departed after five innings, allowing eight hits and posting six strikeouts without walking a batter.
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