Tampa Bay Rays pitching holds down Houston Astros in big road series win

The Tampa Bay Rays had their work cut out for them in August and the remainder of the regular season. This tough stretch of baseball began with a road series in Minute Maid Park against the Houston Astros.

Against the AL West division leaders in their own park, the Rays took two out of three in a great-looking start to their tough August ahead. A big key in earning their win was how good the pitching was for Tampa Bay. They allowed Houston to score just four runs across all three games during the weekend.

Notable performances on the mound came from all over. Friday night, Tampa Bay took a 3-2 loss, but got some good play out of their relievers. Between Garrett Cleavinger, Kevin Kelly, and Hunter Bigge, the Astros got just four hits, and those three arms gave up no earned runs. The run that Kelly gave up was an error on Christopher Morel that ultimately made him responsible for the loss.

Bigge, in particular, shined and dealt two strikeouts, and the bullpen as a whole kept the Rays within striking distance to win that game. It just did not work out.

Tampa Bay Rays step up throughout weekend vs. Houston Astros

The next two games were Rays' wins that won them the series. Saturday night, the team won 6-1 and pitching once again was huge. Zack Littell pitched one-run baseball in 5.2 innings and struck out three batters while walking just one. The bullpen would pick it up for him, too, as Colin Poche, Manuel Rodriguez, Edwin Uceta, and Pete Fairbanks allowed just one combined hit. Rodriguez was lights out, striking out three batters in his one inning of work. Fairbanks also went on to finish the convincing win in just six pitches.

Sunday was a low-scoring win, as the Rays took it 1-0, with a Brandon Lowe RBI double being the only form of scoring offense. Therefore, the pitching needed to be on a tear, and it indeed was. Tyler Alexander earned the win with 4.1 innings in relief, allowing just two hits and one walk, all while striking out five batters.

Uceta pitched two innings, giving up no hits while striking out two Astros hitters. Rodriguez and Fairbanks made appearances again, striking out two batters each. Fairbanks would also record his 21st save this season.

The Rays got the big series win they needed to start a difficult month. Now, they will head to St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals in Busch Stadium. First pitch for Game 1 will be Tuesday night at 7:45 p.m. E.T. with Tampa Bay's Jeffrey Springs pitching against St. Louis' Sonny Gray.