Game 70: David Price Outstanding As Rays Win 4-3

Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful dad’s out there, and the Rays gave you all a nice surprise, as they took the rubber match of a weekend series in Houston against the Houston Astros by a score of 4-3. David Price went eight innings while allowing 3 runs, striking out 10, and walking none. This was the Rays first series win since their late-May sweep over the Boston Red Sox.

Price’s outing started a little rocky, as Dexter Fowler homered off of him to leadoff the Astros offense, and three batters later, Matt Dominguez did the same thing with two outs. In the third inning, Fowler doubled, and came home to score again as Jesus Guzman singled into right field. After that, Price settled down tremendously, and four of his final five innings of work were perfect. David Price was locating to both sides of the plate well, and worked the outside almost too well, missing a lot of back-door sliders just off the plate. But, he kept pounding away and was rewarded greatly for it.

The Rays answered the multi-home run inning by grabbing a run of their own in the second, and they finally gained their first lead of the game in the top of the eighth inning, when pinch-hitter Jerry Sands singled home Matt Joyce for what would turn out being the game-winning run. The early few innings were frustrating for Rays fans, as they were hitting the ball hard and into the outfield, but Fowler and George Springer seemed to find a way to snag the ball out of the air for an out. But in the end, the Rays offense was able to get the job done.

The Rays will now head home for a series with the Baltimore Orioles. Game one will feature Jake Odorizzi against Wei-Yin Chen. First pitch is set for 7:10.