Justin Verlander entered the 6th inning with a 9-0 lead, on his way to his 16th win of the season before a surprise ejection from home plate umpire, Pat Hoberg. Despite the ejection, JV and the Astros pounded the Rays for a 15-1 victory.
The ejection limited Verlander to 5.1 innings pitched and only four strikeouts, stopping his seven game consecutive streak of 10 or more strikeouts.
Houston put it on former Astro Charlie Morton to give him his sixth loss of the season. The Astros had seven hits and six runs on Morton which is a season-high for CFM. Yordan Alvarez went 3-5 with two home runs and four RBIs. Alvarez now has 62 RBI in 60 career games which is 3rd most in MLB history behind Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. He also has 40 extra base hits in 60 games which is 2nd in MLB history behind DiMaggio. Alex Bregman and Josh Reddick had three hits each on a night where the offense had 18 hits. Every starter registered a hit along with Jake Marisnick and Aledmys Diaz who entered the game as pinch hitters. Robinson Chirinos also homered in the win.
Gerrit Cole will take the mound Wednesday night, in game two of the series, looking for his 16th win of the season.