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 Rays right-hander Erasmo Ramirez pitched effectively under
occasional duress and benefited from an early offensive surge keyed
by second baseman Tim Beckham as the Rays clubbed the Houston Astros
9-2 on Monday night at Minute Maid Park.
Ramirez (10-4) became the third Tampa Bay pitcher with 10 wins in a
season after he was acquired via trade, joining Mark Hendrickson
(2004) and Matt Garza (2008). Ramirez, acquired by the Rays (59-59)
on March 31 from the Mariners, joined the duo by stranding three
baserunners in his first two innings and working around two one-out
singles in the fifth, departing with two outs in the sixth up 6-2.
"Glad we got the 'W' and I feel great," Ramirez said. "After we got
an early lead, the confidence in myself was bigger. Just attack the
hitters and be aggressive."
From the beginning of his outing to his departure with one out and
runners on the corners in the sixth, Astros left-hander Scott Kazmir
(6-8) labored.
Kazmir had two quick outs in the first inning before Rays third
baseman Evan Longoria beat the defensive shift with an
opposite-field single to right field that ignited the Rays' four-run
inning. Beckham, the fourth straight batter to reach with two outs,
capped the outburst with a three-run homer, his sixth home run of
the season, to left field on an 0-2 count.
"He showed me a couple of changeups that at-bat," Beckham said of
Kazmir. "I remember how he pitched me when he was with Oakland and I
wasn't looking changeup. He actually threw me a curveball so just
saw it up. I knew I had runners on base so I just wanted to hit the
ball hard and put it in play."
Even after retiring the Rays in order in the second and fourth
innings and inducing a double play to escape trouble in the third,
Kazmir kept scuffling.
Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera launched a sacrifice fly to left center
in the fifth to score right fielder Brandon Guyer, and pinch-hitter
John Jaso greeted Astros right-hander Josh Fields with an RBI single
to left after Kazmir allowed two baserunners to reach to open the
sixth.
"Yeah, we never recovered from it," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said
of the four-run first inning. "First two hitters were fine and then
we just couldn't get the inning to stop. There was a base hit, a
walk, a two-strike homer, a lot of bad things happened that inning
to put us down 4-0."
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Kazmir failed to escape the sixth for a third consecutive start
after working 14 2/3 scoreless innings in his first two appearances
with Houston (64-55). He allowed six earned runs, nine hits and
three walks.
"I don't feel like it's off. I really don't feel like it's off,"
Kazmir said of his repertoire. "I think it's just a matter of being
completely sharp. I feel great. My fastball feels like it's where it
needs to be. It's just a matter of executing. That's something when
it comes to crucial times I didn't do it."
After Ramirez departed, the right-handed relief tandem of Steve
Geltz and Brandon Gomes combined to work 2 1/3 hitless innings with
four strikeouts to snuff any threat of a potential late-inning
Astros comeback.
NOTES: The Rays optioned rookie 3B/OF Richie Shaffer to Triple-A
Durham and recalled LHP Enny Romero. After making his major-league
debut on Aug. 3, Shaffer hit .263/.391/.579 with two home runs and
two RBIs over eight games. Adding Romero (7.84 ERA in five games)
allows the Rays to feature a more traditional seven-man bullpen. ...
Astros manager A.J. Hinch reiterated his commitment to slumping CF
Carlos Gomez, who entered Monday mired in an 0-for-17 slump and
batting .183/.210/.267 in 15 games since his trade deadline
acquisition. Gomez has just three hits in 40 plate appearances since
posting three multi-hit games in a four-game stretch Aug. 1-4. ...
Monday night marked the seventh game this season in which Rays
manager Kevin Cash opposed a starting pitcher he had caught during
his career, a list that includes Astros LHP Scott Kazmir, Red Sox
RHP Justin Masterson and Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (all twice), and
Mets RHP Bartolo Colon.
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reserved.]
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