HOUSTON _ The Astros gave Charlie Morton a warm welcome back before Tuesday's game.
Former teammates raved about how good of a pitcher he was and an even better teammate during the two seasons he spent with them before signing with the Rays.
Manager A.J. Hinch talked about the strong emotion for all parties of having him back in their building for the first time, even though he was in enemy colors.
A video on the Minute Maid Park outfield board highlighted Morton's contributions, most notably his star turn in the 2017 postseason, and drew loud cheers and then a standing ovation from the fans.
Morton, who was loosening up for his start in outfield, stopped throwing to watch the video, responding to the cheering fans by twice tipping his cap and then patting his heart.
But once the game started, the Astros got downright rude, knocking Morton out after four innings on their way to a 15-1 thrashing.
They tagged Morton for six runs on seven hits, matching his shortest start of the season and certainly his biggest disappointment in a while.
Worse for the Rays, it was an abysmal showing overall in the opening game of a series in which they hoped to measure up against one of the AL's best teams, as well as their first game in nearly a month against a team with a winning record.
Instead, they dropped to 76-57 and dropped back a step in the AL wild card race, now 1 { games behind the leading Indians and a game behind the second-card holding A's, who both won.
The 15 runs the Rays allowed were their most this season, surpassing 13 by the Yankees on May 19. As were the 17 hits, having given up 16 three times. The margin of defeat was their largest of the season, surpassing a 12-1 loss on June 19 at Yankee Stadium.
Infielder Mike Brosseau was not only pressed into service again as a pitcher, but asked to work two innings as the Rays used Andrew Kittredge and Chaz Roe for an inning each and didn't want to go further into their bullpen.
Before the game, the talk on both sides of the field was about Morton' s return.
Though Morton pitched just two seasons for the Astros, he earned a lofty place in team history with his 2017 postseason exploits, starting and winning Game 7 of the AL Championship Series against the Yankees then closing out Game 7 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium.
Former teammates still rave about his contributions and his influence.
"I love Chuck, and I don't think there's a guy that's played with him and doesn't love him," outfielder George Springer said Tuesday afternoon. "He's such a good teammate, he's such a great person. Much to kind of how he looks on the mound, the guy's a crazy competitor. I got to know him pretty well over here, and I'm sad he's gone. One of the great guys out there. But he's on the other team and I've got to try and beat him."
In the dugout, Hinch acknowledged the emotions of the evening.
"I think facing him in the beginning of the season (at the Trop) is one thing," Hinch said. "To have him come back in to our building, a building we shared with him for a couple seasons, is pretty emotional for him and for our guys. It will be great to see him, despite the fact that he's really hard to beat.
"We've got to find a way to navigate around his realty good stuff and his likeable personality. We'll compete when the game starts until the game is finished, then probably spend some quality time with him over the next couple days."
Morton certainly wasn't going to be good company Monday night.
He gave up a leadoff single to Springer, one of his closest friends on the team, but got through the first two innings unscathed. The third started badly, with walks to the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters, then got worse with an RBI double by Jake Reddick and, after he loaded the bases by hitting Springer, then a sac fly.
The fourth was a real mess.
Alex Bregman led off with a single that surely stung Morton, since it hit on his backside, the rookie Yordan Alvarez doubled. Yuli Gurriel, another Morton favorite, doubled in two runs. A ground out later, catcher Robinson Chirinos, the ex-Ray, hit a two-run homer to make it 6-0.
Rays manager Kevin Cash, who had some fun with all the Astros-Morton talk pre-game by noting "he's ours, you know he's not the Astros' anymore" clearly didn't want to pull Morton and make him walk off the mound.
Morton at least was spared that, getting out of the inning with no further damage, throwing 77 pitches on the night, 49 for strikes.
Morton was matched up with Justin Verlander, who was ejected in the sixth with the Astros leading 9-0 after Tommy Pham doubled.
The Astros kept piling on from there as the Rays looked bad in all areas, trailing 14-0 before Joey Wendle got them on the board with a homer in the seventh.
