Astros snap Rays’ 14-game home win streak

ST. PETERSBURG — It was strangely quiet Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. No postgame music thumped in the Rays clubhouse.

The defending World Series champion Astros broke out for five runs in the fifth inning and cruised behind right-hander Luis Garcia to a 5-0 win in front of an announced audience of 9,916. It was the first time this season the Rays had lost at home.

The Rays dropped to 20-4 on the season and 14-1 at Tropicana Field.

“It’s one of 15,” leftfielder Randy Arozarena said through communications manager Elvis Martinez. “It’s hard to think about it that way, but at some point we had to lose a game at home.

“It’s just baseball. It’s hard.”

Garcia pitched five scoreless innings, scattering three hits and two walks and striking out seven. It was the first time the Rays offense, which leads the major leagues in runs scored, was shut out this season.

“He was locating his pitches. He won the game. He beat us,” Arozarena said. “So tip the hat to him. It’s not every day you can score runs. It’s a difficult game and turn the page and come back tomorrow.”

The Rays offense began in the hole Tuesday night, with leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz taking a strike for a pitch-clock violation, and never got on track.

“(Garcia) had great game. He was locating all his pitches, especially the breaking pitches, against us and we couldn’t figure it out,” Arozarena said. “He won the game.”

Garcia baffled the Rays for most of the first five innings, allowing two weak singles until Wander Franco’s hard-hit double in the sixth. The first runner the Rays got into scoring position against Garcia, Franco was stranded at third when Arozarena struck out and Isaac Paredes’ long fly ball was caught at the wall in leftfield.

By the fifth, the Astros clearly had figured out Rays starter Drew Rasmussen (3-2, 3.33 ERA).

Leadoff hitter Mauricio Dubon hit a one-out double to extend his hitting streak to 19 straight games. Jeremy Pena doubled him home for the first run of the night. Plant High alumnus Kyle Tucker singled in Pena and scored from first on Jose Abreu’s double.

Abreu scored when Arozarena misjudged a sharp line drive to give Corey Julks an RBI double. Jake Meyers singled on a ground ball that was deflected by Franco.

“They pieced together a big inning. They hit balls hard. They hit balls, kind of those tweeners right between some infielders to pick up RBIs,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “They’re a good hitting team. They make adjustments. But still thought, leading into that inning, Drew was throwing the ball well.”

That was it for Rasmussen, who had to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the first after walking two. He allowed five runs on nine hits —both tying his career highs — while striking out five and walking two. He has walked multiple batters in three straight games, matching the longest streak of his career.

“I threw the ball over the plate a lot there, changed speeds, and you miss over the big part of the plate in leverage counts, and damage tends to get done,” Rasmussen said. “And it’s one of those things where they found some holes and they were able to exploit some bad pitches. And that’s just how this game works.

“But it is one of those things where we just continued to attack and unfortunately it didn’t work out.”

The 14 straight home wins to start the season is the longest such streak of the modern era (1900) of big-league baseball. The Rays matched the 1885 Chicago White Stockings for the the fourth-longest home winning streak to start a season in major-league history. They fell seven short of the 1880 White Stockings, who won 21 straight at home.

“It was a little weird walking in there right there with no music or anything like that,” Cash said after the game. “But I’m guessing they’ll get the music back on soon.”

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