Luis Garcia Baffles the Rays. Astros Even the Series, Shuttung Out Tampa 5-0

Luis Garcia is back in the groove

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays thought they had made a statement to the reigning champions of major league baseball. Tonight, the Astros replied, not so fast buckaroos.

It started as a pitching duel royale between Luis Garcia and Rays starter Drew Rasmussen through four scoreless innings. But in the end, the only one left dueling was Luis Garcia.

The entire scoring for the night happened in the Astros’ fifth inning. It started with one out with a Mauricio Dubon (who else) double. He thereby extended his hitting streak to 19 games.

Jeremy Peña hit Dubon home with his own double, and scored on a Kyle Tucker single.

But after an Alex Bregman flyout, the Astros continued the two-out magic we’ve seen often this year. Jose Abreu doubled home Tucker,

Corey Julks doubled home Abreu, and Jake Meyers singled home Julks, sending Rasmussen to the showers.

Meanwhile, Luis Garcia completed six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and two walks, with seven strikeouts. He now has a streak of 13 scoreless innings allowing only five hits. Before this streak, Garcia allowed 12 runs in 14 innings.

Phil Maton followed Garcia with a three up, three down innings, which has become the new normal for Maton. He now has an 11.2-inning scoreless inning streak, allowing only two hits.

Who’s Myle Straw?

Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly preserved the shutout in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

The Astros offense amassed 11 hits, with two each by Dubon, Peña, Tucker, Julks, and Jake Meyers.

The Stros go for their third consecutive series win tomorrow behind Hunter Brown at 5:40.

Box score HERE.