Justin Verlander’s worst start with the Houston Astros might have been OK if not for Wilson Ramos.
Ramos drove in four runs in the first two innings against Verlander and the Tampa Bay Rays went on to a 5-2 win over the Astros on Saturday.
”I wasn’t sharp Nick Chubb Browns Jersey , but also I didn’t have luck on my side,” Verlander said. ”I made an adjustment during the third inning that I thought was good, but it was too little too late.”
Verlander (9-4) gave up the most runs (5) and hits (9) of any of his 23 starts since his trade to Houston late last summer. He struck out eight in a season-low five innings after coming in with a major league-leading 1.82 ERA – though it was 4.34 in six June starts. The Astros have lost his last three starts.
Matt Duffy finished with three hits, including two in the first two innings, to help the Rays win for the seventh time in eight tames to move to .500 (41-41) for the first time since June 1.
”I gave up three hard-hit balls, all to the same guy. The rest of `em, nobody hit the ball hard,” Verlander said.
Ramos got the Rays on the scoreboard with a two-run double in the first, and made it 5-0 with a two-run single in the second. Those two at bats summarized Verlander’s day.
”The first at bat, I put him in a 3-1 situation where Donte Jackson Panthers Jersey , bases loaded, he knows a heater’s coming, and he hit it off the wall. So that’s my fault,” Verlander said. ”His next bat I got a ground ball up the middle on a slider, which is kind of what you’re looking for. But it found a hole.”
Tampa Bay has held opponents to two runs or fewer in five straight games for only the second time in franchise history.
”The way these guys are throwing right now, we’re tough to beat,” said Kevin Kiermaier, who scored in each of the first two innings.
Alex Bregman got the Astros on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth off Vidal Nuno. It was Bregman’s 16th home run and his fifth in six games.
”They’ve been throwing the ball well over there, and we haven’t really been able to put anything together,” Bregman said. ”Verlander was a little unfortunate today with some of the weak contact that went for hits Shaquem Griffin Youth Jersey , but we’ve got to do a better job of putting up runs for him.
Nuno (2-0) got the win after pitching 4 2/3 innings of relief, giving up two runs and four hits while striking out four. Sergio Romo pitched ninth for his seventh save in 11 opportunities.
Ryne Stanek pitched the first inning for Tampa Bay, giving up a single to Jose Altuve, Houston’s only hit in the first four innings.
RARE ERROR
Adeiny Hechavarria made a fielding error on George Springer’s grounder in the top of the sixth just before Bregman’s homer. It ended a streak of 94 games and 319 chances in which the Rays’ shortstop had not committed a miscue. It was the longest errorless streak in franchise history for a shortstop. Hechavarria’s last error had come on July 30, 2017 at Yankee Stadium.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHP Joe Smith (sore right elbow) will make what the Astros expect to be a final rehab appearance at Double-A Corpus Christi before being activated. … 1B Yuli Gurriel (paternity leave) is expected to be back in the lineup Sunday.
Rays: RHP Wilmer Font was placed on the 10-day disabled and RHP Hunter Wood was recalled from Triple-A Durham. Manager Kevin Cash said an optimistic timeframe has Font missing eight weeks. … Cash didn’t completely rule out RHP Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) from returning after his first rehab start Tuesday night锟?for Class A Charlotte.
UP NEXT
The series finale will be a matchup of two of baseball’s hottest pitchers. Houston RHP Charlie Morton (10-1, 2.54) has won three straight starts and has not given up an earned run in his last two. LHP Blake Snell (10-4, 2.31) did not give up a hit until the seventh inning of the Rays’ 11-0 win against Washington on Monday night.
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Steve Clifford was there the last time the Orlando Magic were a playoff contender.
He’s being asked to make them one again.
Clifford was announced Wednesday as the new coach of the Magic, a team that has missed the playoffs in each of the last six years. Clifford – who spent the last five seasons as coach of the Charlotte Hornets – was an assistant coach on Stan Van Gundy’s Magic staff for five years, including during the team’s most recent playoff run in 2012.
”I’ve had 18 great years in this league and I’ve enjoyed every year, but none more than the five years here Cheap Braden Smith Jersey ,” Clifford said.
Magic president Jeff Weltman said the team used a ”deliberate approach” and took its time, but insisted that the franchise made the right hire.
”We are very excited to welcome Steve back into the Magic family,” Weltman said. ”Steve is widely regarded throughout the NBA community as an elite coach and developer of players at all stages. His teams have always been disciplined and prepared, and have embraced the concept of playing for each other.”
Clifford is replacing Frank Vogel, who was let go after two seasons. Clifford, who missed 21 games this past season while dealing with severe headaches brought on by sleep deprivation, was fired by Charlotte at the end of this season after going 196-214.
Hiring Clifford is easily the biggest move made so far by Weltman. He took over the club a year ago after the team fired Rob Hennigan and ended his five-year run that never got on solid footing.
Weltman made the decision after this season to part with Vogel, who was a proven winner in Indiana but simply didn’t have a playoff-caliber roster in Orlando.
Neither does Clifford, at this point anyway. It will take more than a coaching change to improve Orlando’s fortunes.
”The old saying in the NBA, and it’s so true Isaiah Oliver Youth Jersey , is you never know a player until you coach them,” Clifford said. ”I’m going to start to try and establish the right kind of relationships with these guys tomorrow, or tonight. I want to be able to impact each one of these guys in the right way.”
Clifford was ousted in Charlotte after a front-office shakeup. Owner Michael Jordan fired general manager Rich Cho and eventually hired Mitch Kupchak to replace him in April. Kupchak fired Clifford not long afterward.
The Hornets went to the playoffs twice in Clifford’s five seasons, never winning a series.
”The NBA isn’t about winning – the NBA is about winning in the playoffs,” Clifford said at the end of Charlotte’s season.
Clifford is coming to a franchise that has lost more games than any NBA club over the past six years, 335. That’s four more than Philadelphia, a franchise that was openly tanking for years before turning things around this season.
The Magic weren’t tanking. They’ve just been bad.
Orlando hasn’t had longer than a five-game winning streak at any time over the last six seasons. But over that same span, the Magic have had 23 losing streaks of at least five games. On their way to a 25-57 record that left them 18 games out of a playoff spot, the Magic had two seven-game slides and two other nine-game skids.
Since Van Gundy left, the Magic have gone through a series of resets.
There have been 62 players in uniform over the last six seasons – none an All-Star while in Orlando – and now five coaches. Van Gundy was replaced by Jacque Vaughn Quenton Nelson Colts Jersey , who was let go after 2 1/2 seasons and replaced on an interim basis by James Borrego. Scott Skiles then took over for one year, and Vogel ran things the last two seasons.
Weltman said Clifford is the one who can stop the revolving-door look to the coach’s office.
”I think it’s crucial,” Weltman said. ”Fifth coach in seven years, it’s very important that we start to establish our identity and be able to build on something that doesn’t get turned over every season.”
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