Well, welcome back, Jake.
Jake Odorizzi gave the Tampa Bay Rays a shot in the arm Saturday afternoon. He returned to the mound for the first time since June 5, when he left with tightness in his left oblique, but didn’t look as if he had been gone at all. He allowed only two hits in his 5 ½ innings and struck out five in a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros.
For the second straight night, the 1-2-3 reliever combination of Jake McGee, Kevin Jepsen and Brad Boxberger shut down the Astros, who have only seven hits in the first two games of the series. Houston has scored only four runs in its last five games, all defeats.
The Rays scored all of its runs in the second. Rene Rivera drove in two with a single, and Brandon Guyer drove in the third with another. It was enough for the Rays to beat Dallas Keuchel, who was trying to be the first 12-game winning in the American League.
Today, Matt Moore of the Rays, who has an ERA of 8.00, will start against Houston’s Lance McCullers, a native of Tampa.
