ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays opened the second half of their schedule on Saturday by climbing back to the .500 mark with a 5-2 win over the world champion Astros.
Wilson Ramos drove in four runs as the Rays scored five times against Astros ace Justin Verlander in the first two innings and chased him after five.
The Rays used another bullpen brigade to get to 41-41, with Ryne Stanek working an inning as opener, then Vidal Nuno 42/3 (and the win) before Jose Alvarado, Chaz Roe and Sergio Romo took it from there.
The Rays were last at .500 on June 1, having lost two to get there and then six more.
The Rays took a lead in unexpected fashion, scoring three off Verlander in the first and two in the second. That was the first time in 28 starts (regular and post-season) since joining the Astros last he allowed five runs for even a whole game. It also was the first time he allowed as many as five runs in the first innings since April 15, 2017.
Ramos did the bulk of the damage for the Rays.
In the first, they loaded the bases when leadoff man Kevin Kiermaier was nicked by a pitch and Matt Duffy and rookie Jake Bauers singled. Ramos then laced a double to left-center to score two, and a sac fly by Joey Wendle made it 3-0.
In the second, the Rays got odd infield singles with two outs by Kiermaier (that second baseman Jose Altuve couldn't handle) and Duffy (that eluded Verlander) and a walk by Bauers to load them. And Ramos again stepped up, this time with a single up the middle that scored two more, making it 5-0.
After another solid opening job by Stanek, who allowed just a two-out single, the Rays turned to Nuno. The veteran lefty turned in another solid outing, working 42/3, allowing only two runs on a homer by Alex Bregman after an error by shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, his first since July 30, 2017, with a team-record 94 games and 319 total chances in between.
The Rays and Astros conclude the four-game series with a 1:10 matinee on Sunday, lefty Blake Snell facing Houston's Charlie Morton.
