HOUSTON — The Rays walked off losers again Wednesday.
The details were different, Carlos Correa singling in the 13th inning off just-called-up Matt Andriese to score Colby Rasmus and give the Astros a 3-2 win to celebrate.
But the result was painfully the same, a second straight extra-innings walkoff loss that left the Rays shaking their heads in frustration after a stunning turn in a game they led 2-1 in the ninth with All-Star Brad Boxberger on the mound.
"Tough ballgame to lose,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Several elements went into it, including a decision by Cash to have Andriese pitch to Correa, the 20-year-old star-in-the-making shortstop, with a base open.
The Rays were left with their majors-most 10th walkoff loss, one shy of their team record set in 2002. They have a majors-worst 2-10 record in extra innings. And they dropped back to two games under .500 overall, at 59-61, and further from any realistic chance of competing for an AL wild-card playoff spot.
Rasmus drew a one-out walk from Andriese, whose day started in Louisville, Ky., with flights to Chicago and Houston. Rasmus went to third on a perfectly placed single by Jose Altuve, who bounced the ball through the shortstop hole as Tim Beckham broke to cover second as Rasmus was running on a 3-2 pitch. After Andriese struck out Marwin Gonzalez, who hit the winning homer Tuesday, Correa singled through the right side.
"A couple of ground balls that found some holes right there,'' Andriese said. "I think I could have maybe gotten ahead in the count a little bit more and given my better off-speed pitches, but what are you going to do?''
Cash said the Rays considered walking Correa and facing Jed Lowrie, but didn't want to put Andriese, a rookie starter with little bullpen experience, in a tougher spot with the bases loaded and no wiggle room.
"I don't know how fair that is to ask him to load the bases and give him no margin of error,'' Cash said. "There was definitely a thought. Although you've got to take in who's on the mound for you. Not that he couldn't have handled it, but I don't feel it was right to put him in that situation right there.''
(Cash did employ that strategy Aug. 5 in Chicago with Boxberger pitching, intentionally walking two to load the bases, and Boxberger then walked in the winning run.)
Andriese said he was planning to pitch carefully anyway to Correa, who had homered in the first off Nathan Karns, and that the 2-1 pitch was a cutter on the outside part of the plate.
"I didn't want to give him something good to hit with a base open,'' Andriese said. "I just threw him a pitch that he'd maybe pop-up or hit a ground ball, and the ground ball found a hole.''
Down 1-0 early to Astros All-Star ace Dallas Keuchel, the Rays rallied — with an apparent hand from a Houston fan — to take a 2-1 lead in the seventh, Tim Beckham tripling in the tying run and scoring to put them ahead.
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Explore all your optionsAfter six solid innings from starter Karns (and only 84 pitches on a night they were shorthanded in the bullpen) and a dazzling 1-2-3 performances by relievers Xavier Cedeno and Alex Colome (who struck out the side on 10 pitches), the Rays put the 2-1 lead in Boxberger's right hand.
And they watched it slip away.
Tuesday, Boxberger came into a tie game and gave up a walkoff homer to Gonzalez. Wednesday was less dramatic as he blew only his fourth save. And it wasn't even all his fault as the Astros had good aim on their hits.
"I felt good tonight, I felt like I was locating well,'' Boxberger said. "I just didn't have any luck, that's for sure.''
First, he gave up a leadoff double to Jed Lowrie, which was really a blooped a ball that dropped between leftfielder Desmond Jennings and Beckham. He threw a wild pitch, yanking a fastball about three feet wide, that sailed past catcher Curt Casali to move Lowrie to third.
And with one out, Boxberger threw a 2-and-1 pitch that Evan Gattis slapped up the middle through the drawn-in infield to score the tying run.
Boxberger said he felt he had corrected the mechanical issues that contributed to Tuesday's loss and his recent issues, so that actually made Wednesday's outing feel worse.
"It's the most frustrating thing ever because you can't look at something that you're doing and change something,'' Boxberger said. "It's just a matter that it's not going your way that day.''
Cash said the wild pitch was the one mistake, but otherwise there wasn't much else Boxberger could have done, as the Astros hit the ball where the Rays weren't.
"I don't think too much was squared up. That's probably a little bit the way his luck is going right now,'' Cash said. "I think they found some holes and that's going to happen.''
Brandon Gomes got the Rays through the 11th, and they had a chance in the top of the 12th when James Loney doubled with one out, but Kevin Kiermaier popped out and Rene Rivera struck out.
Then they looked to have another chance in the 13th when Grady Sizemore appeared to beat out an infield single, but the call was overturned in Houston manager A.J. Hinch's third successful replay challenge of the night.
Cash made a couple of other decisions that were at least worthy of discussion.
Leading 2-1 in the eighth, catcher Curt Casali led off with a single but the Rays didn't run for him, Cash saying they didn't have anyone fast left on the bench and he didn't want to use a starting pitcher. But Casali was able to advance only to second on Brandon Guyer's single, and then only to third on Evan Longoria's single, and got no further.
And after limiting Karns to 84 pitches and knowing his bullpen was shorthanded, with Jake McGee in St. Petersburg to have his left knee examined and Steve Geltz unavailable, Cash didn't extend either Cedeno, who threw a 13-pitch seventh, or Colome, who was overpowering in the eighth.
Until the seventh, it appeared Cash's pregame comments about how imperative it was to score the runners they got on base would be particularly prophetic as the Rays wasted an early opportunity against Keuchel and didn't look like they would have any more.
But then they got another and took advantage to take a 2-1 lead.
Logan Forsythe singled in a second chance after an overzealous fan kept first baseman Luis Valbuena from making a play on a foul pop, then stole second. The Rays tied it when Beckham — whose three-run homer sparked Monday's win — tripled to right-center. They went ahead when Beckham scored on a sac fly by Loney.