Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay 6, Houston 3
When: 6:10 PM ET, Saturday, April 22, 2017
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - CB Bucknor, 1B - Manny Gonzalez, 2B - Fieldin Culbreth, 3B - Mark Carlson
Attendance: 17008

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Houston Astros got two solo home runs early, but the Tampa Bay Rays answered with seven straight batters reaching base in a four-run sixth, pulling out a 6-3 win on Saturday night at Tropicana Field.

It's the seventh come-from-behind win for the Rays (10-9), who continue to push through injuries and illness, especially at home, where they are 9-3.

"They've been tremendous," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We're playing nine innings, and it's a testament to those guys in the clubhouse. ... We don't feel like we're ever out of a ballgame."

Rays shortstop Tim Beckham had three hits out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order, and he drove in the go-ahead run. Houston (12-6) managed only four hits as a team and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

"They did a pretty good job of putting together five or six at-bats in a row where some positive things turned out on their end," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "More credit to them being able to put a couple of things together. We did the opposite. We ambushed them a couple of times with big home runs, but we didn't do a ton after we got some free passes."

Astros outfielder George Springer, tied for the American League lead with seven home runs, left the game in the fifth inning after he pulled up while running to first on a double play. Norichika Aoki replaced Springer, and after the game Hinch said Springer was "OK" and "day-to-day" but likely won't play in Sunday's series finale.

Down 3-2 in the sixth, the Rays erupted for four runs and five hits, chasing starter Charlie Morton (1-2) after he loaded the bases with no outs.

Steven Souza doubled, Logan Morrison walked and Derek Norris singled to load the bases and bring in reliever Will Harris. The bottom of the Rays lineup came through. No. 8 hitter Shane Peterson hit a chopper for an infield single to tie the score at 3, and Beckham singled to left to drive in a run for a 4-3 lead.

Houston got one out at the plate, but then pinch hitter Peter Bourjos, subbing in when Kevin Kiermaier was limited by illness, hit a two-run single past a drawn-in infield for a 6-3 lead.

James Hoyt came in and got the last two outs to strand two runners in scoring position.

Rays reliever Austin Pruitt (2-0) had his second straight solid outing after 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win on Wednesday. On Saturday, he got the final out in the sixth and pitched 2 1/3 innings without giving up a hit or a run, lowering his season ERA to 7.94.

Closer Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

"It wasn't our best night," Hinch said. "You're going to have games like this sometimes, but even defensively, we didn't play great, and we didn't piece together at-bat after at-bat."

Rays starter Blake Snell lasted only five innings but held Houston to three runs and three hits, again hurting himself with five walks, including a free pass to Jose Altuve to open the sixth as the last batter he faced.

"Kind of a head-scratching outing," Cash said. "A little confusing. He didn't get hit. Gave up two solo home runs. ... The leadoff walk to start off the sixth, we have to find a way to nip those."

Houston had taken the lead in the top of the sixth on exceptional baserunning by Altuve, who walked and stole second. He took off on the pitch with Evan Gattis at the plate and never slowed down after Gattis hit a ground ball to first. Morrison couldn't get to the first-base bag and throw home in time to get Altuve, giving the Astros a 3-2 lead.

Morton started out strong, retiring the first eight batters he faced, including three strikeouts, until Beckham's triple off the wall in the third inning.

The Astros got two solo home runs off Snell, with Gattis hitting his first of the season in the second and Altuve getting his first in the fourth.

The Rays got a double from Evan Longoria in the fourth, then a single from Souza to put runners at the corners with two outs. Morrison walked to load the bases, but Norris, who came into the game hitting just .167, grounded out to first to end the inning.

Tampa Bay got singles from Beckham and Corey Dickerson in the fifth, and with two outs, Longoria came through with another double, bringing in both runs to tie the score.

NOTES: The Rays already have 10 players on the disabled list, including three relievers, but they may have another after RHP Tommy Hunter pulled up as he went to cover first base on a ground ball in the sixth inning. Hunter left the game with right calf tightness. He'll be evaluated Sunday. ... When Rays RHP Alex Cobb picked off Houston's Jose Altuve twice in back-to-back innings Friday night, it marked the first time in 14 years that one pitcher had two straight pickoffs of the same runner in a game, since Cleveland's Terry Mulholland picked off Kansas City's Desi Relaford in 1993. ... For the second straight game, Rays OF Kevin Kiermaier left in the middle of the game due to illness. He was replaced in both games by Peter Bourjos. Saturday was Kiermaier's 27th birthday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Houston   Tampa Bay
Charlie Morton Player Blake Snell
Loss W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 5.0
6 Strikeouts 4
8 Hits 3
9.00 ERA 5.40
Hitting
Houston   Tampa Bay
Jose Altuve Player Tim Beckham
1 Hits 3
1 RBI 1
1 HR 0
4 TB 5
.333 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Houston 4 2 10 .138 9 6 3 5 1 0
Tampa Bay 12 0 18 .333 16 10 6 2 0 0