Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay 3, Houston 2
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, June 29, 2018
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Victor Carapazza, 1B - Jordan Baker, 2B - Greg Gibson, 3B - Jerry Layne
Attendance: 15797

Wilmer Font carried a shutout into the sixth inning before departing with an injury, and the host Tampa Bay Rays took advantage of the Houston Astros' substitute lineup in a 3-2 victory on Friday at Tropicana Field.

Font (2-3) surrendered just one hit and one walk through five innings before issuing a free pass to Astros center fielder Jake Marisnick leading off the sixth. Then, in the middle of his at-bat with third baseman Alex Bregman, Font suffered a strained right lat and departed leading 3-0.

Right-hander Diego Castillo entered in relief of Font and surrendered a two-run homer to Bregman, with Bregman drilling a 3-2 fastball 414 feet to left-center field that cut the deficit to one. Castillo steadied himself and finished the sixth before returning with a shutdown seventh.

The Astros had their 11-game road winning streak snapped after scuffling offensively for a second consecutive game. Houston rode a solo homer from Marisnick to a 1-0 win in the series opener, but aside from the Bregman blast, his 15th, the Astros failed to muster a threat.

Their lineup was less than full strength. Shortstop Carlos Correa was placed on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to June 26) with back soreness while first baseman Yuli Gurriel missed a second consecutive game while on the paternity list for the birth of his son. Outfielder George Springer, mired in a slump, had the day off. Two of the absences played a key role defensively.

While Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole (9-2) lacked his overpowering stuff, he pitched effectively enough until the Rays placed a pair of runners on leading off the fourth inning. Adeiny Hechavarria followed singles by Daniel Robertson and Joey Wendle with a fly ball to deep center field that Marisnick initially caught but then dropped following a collision with the wall.

Three batters later and with two outs, Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier chopped a grounder to Marwin Gonzalez at short. Gonzalez short-hopped his throw to first baseman AJ Reed, making his first start this season. Reed couldn't corral the errant throw, allowing Wendle and Hechavarria to score for a 3-0 lead. Gurriel has excelled at scooping throws in the dirt.

Cole allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts over six innings.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Houston   Tampa Bay
Gerrit Cole Player Wilmer Font
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 5.0
5 Strikeouts 3
5 Hits 1
1.50 ERA 1.80
Hitting
Houston   Tampa Bay
Max Stassi Player Daniel Robertson
1 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 2
.500 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Houston 3 1 7 .100 5 5 2 2 0 2
Tampa Bay 5 0 5 .179 14 8 1 4 2 0