The Orange Juice Series will shift to Tropicana Field on Monday, for Game Three between the Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays. On Saturday, SP Gerrit Cole struck out 15 batters over seven plus scoreless frames to pitch Houston to a 3-1 victory. Alex Bregman had two hits and scored twice for the Astros, who lead this best-of-five series by a 2-0 margin.
Thirty-five year old righty Zack Greinke (18-5 2.93 ERA) will take the mound for the Astros in this matchup. Greinke won eight of his ten starts with the Astros and allowed just 21 earned runs over that stretch.
The Tampa Bay Rays won 48 of their 81 home games during the regular season and need to get their offense in gear. In Game Two, Tampa Bay managed just six hits and left the bases loaded in the ninth inning. The Rays scored their only run of the game earlier in the inning on a fielder’s choice, but failed in two attempts with the bases full.
The Rays will turn to thirty-five year old righty Charlie Morton (16-6 3.05 ERA) in Game Three. In the AL Wild Card game, Morton allowed five hits and one run in five innings during a 5-1 road victory against Oakland.
