Well, the better team won again tonight and it's really not surprising at all.
As David stated after last night's game, the Rays need to win these games to stay in the middle of a tight race in the AL East. If you watched this game, you probably noticed that our Astros were just out-hustled and outworked by this Tampa squad. You could tell that the Rays wanted this game, and they took care of business with another great pitching performance.
James Shields locked up the Houston bats last night while Wade Davis did his part this evening. Davis, the Tampa right-hander, only surrendered one run in his seven innings of work. He scattered five hits and was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when Brett Wallace grounded out to first.
Prior to this game, Bud Norris was 1-1 with a 0.86 ERA in his last three starts. He didn't pitch quite as well tonight, allowing three earned runs in only five innings. He was able to strike out five, but it took him 95 pitches to labor through his five innings.
The offense strung together a couple runs on RBI doubles by Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee, but Matt Downs hit into a crucial double play in the eighth to squander a potential big inning.
Another night, another Astros loss. I'm not saying that the Rays are going to complete the sweep tomorrow, but I'm beginning to just expect the worst.