ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The three runs Josh Fleming allowed in his messy first inning weren’t all that much.
But the way the Rays are going offensively, it was more than they could overcome, losing again — and quietly — 3-1.
It marked the fourth straight game the Rays scored two or fewer runs. They have scored four or fewer in 19 of their 28 games.
They had only five hits on the day, matching their second-fewest of season. And only one chance to add to their staggering run of futility with runners in scoring position, now at 3-for-their-last-54.
The loss was the Rays’ third straight overall, fifth in their last seven games and seventh in 10. They dropped to 13-15 as they wrap up a season-high-matching 10-game homestand on Sunday before heading to the west coast (with no day off) to face the Angels and A’s to end a taxing stretch of games in 17 straight days and 30 of 31.
Fleming got the Rays off to a bad start, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in a messy 34-pitch first inning. That he didn’t allow any more runs, or even hits, after that and got through five more innings on just 64 additional pitches at least kept the Rays from blowing up their bullpen.
Fleming wasn’t hit overly hard in the first, but the Astros placed the ball well.
With much of the Tropicana Field crowd booing as he walked to the plate, Jose Altuve laced the first pitch down the first-base line for a double. With one out, Alex Bregman blooped a single to right, scoring Altuve.
Fleming then walked lefty Yordan Alvarez on a full count and, after a mound visit from pitching coach Kyle Snyder, Carlos Correa on four pitches to load the bases. The back-to-back walks in the inning matched Fleming’s most in any of his 10 previous big-league games.
That all mattered when Yuli Gurriel knocked the next pitch into right for a two-run single and a 3-0 lead. From there on, Fleming faced 19 batters without giving up a hit, walking three (one intentionally).
The Rays obviously couldn’t do much against Astros starter Jose Urquidy, who had a good time on his 26th birthday.
The Rays’ one chance came in the seventh, when Manuel Margot singled with two outs and Brandon Lowe did the same. But Randy Arozarena, so good against the Astros in the 2020 American League Championship Series, grounded out to short.
