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  March 28, 2018 8:03 PM PDT

  HOUSTON -- Astros right-hander Mike Fiers delivered a performance Friday night emblematic of the inconsistencies plagued Houston starters of late. Austin Watson Jersey .Undone by three wild pitches -- two of which led directly to runs, Fiers blew a 3-0 lead and did not factor in the decision in the Astros 5-4 victory over the Rays.Fiers hasnt recorded wins in consecutive starts since mid-June, but with Collin McHugh and Doug Fister and rookie Joe Musgrove alternating strong starts with poor ones, Fiers isnt alone riding the roller coaster of varying results for the Astros (67-61).I think its just about making pitches in this league, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of the variance in the performances of his starters. Its a tough league, its a smaller margin for error. I think its just rigors of the schedule and rigors of the season and the difficulty of putting five starters out there every day. Weve had some inconsistencies.Left-hander Dallas Keuchel (8-12, 4.64 ERA) makes his seventh career start against the Rays on Saturday. He is 0-4 with a 5.11 ERA against Tampa Bay.Keuchel allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over five innings in a 5-0 loss to the Rays on June 12 at Tropicana Field. In his last start, Keuchel tossed eight innings and allowed two runs on five hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in a 5-3 victory over Baltimore on Sunday.The entire second half of the season has represented a turnaround for the Rays (54-73). After posting a minus-74 run differential prior to the All-Star break -- the worst mark in the American League, the Rays entered the series with Houston with the second-best run differential in the majors since the break and it stands at plus-56 after Fridays game.Were very happy with the performance from our pitching staff (and) the way weve gone out and defended, Rays manager Kevin Cash said. We had stretches last year where we were a really good club but we fell short. This year it went the other way where we struggled early but we seem to be playing better baseball now. Somehow Ive got to find a way where we play that type of style of baseball throughout the course of a full season.Left-hander Blake Snell (4-6, 3.17 ERA) makes his first career appearance against the Astros on Saturday. Snell has allowed two earned runs or fewer in eight consecutive starts, the longest such streak by a rookie in franchise history. Snell is 3-3 during that stretch, lowering his season ERA by 0.69.Snell issued a career-high five walks in his last start against the Red Sox on Monday, failing to work five innings for the second time in three appearances. While Snell was lifted after 3 2/3 innings, he also failed to get any run support for the fifth time in 13 career starts. Pekka Rinne Jersey . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Ryan Ellis Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. http://www.nhlpredatorshockeyshop.com/matt-irwin-jersey/ . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division.CLEVELAND -- Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon had a feeling the Rays would bounce back Sunday. Following Saturdays 5-0 loss to Cleveland -- a game that began 10 hours following Friday nights game that ended at 2:53 a.m. because of three rain delays -- a strong team performance proved Maddon right in an 11-3 win. Evan Longoria and Yunel Escobar hit two-run homers, James Loney added a two-run double and Jeremy Hellickson picked up the victory as Tampa Bay rebounded a day after its six-game winning streak ended. Everything went the Rays way Sunday. Sam Fuld wound up with a triple in the fourth when his drive down the right field line bounced off a ball boy. Fridays game, scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m., was delayed a total of 4 hours and 49 minutes. That left a short turnaround time for Saturdays 1:05 p.m. game in which the Rays managed four hits. Maddon wasnt surprised about how his team responded in Sundays win. "Its a great group of guys," he said. "I can read them pretty well when they walk in the door or in the dugout during the game. (Saturday) was difficult. It just was. Theres no way getting around it. Its not an excuse. Were not making excuses. I felt we were a little fatigued. They came back and did a great job. I trust them. Theyre professional." Indians manager Terry Francona was ejected in the fifth inning by plate umpire Bill Welke for arguing a strike call with Nick Swisher batting. It was his first ejection as Clevelands manager. "I thought his strike zone was inconsistent all day, not just on that one pitch," Francona said. "After the game, I told Bill, In fairness to you, I went back and looked at all the pitches, and I feel stronger now than I did when I was yelling at you from the dugout. " Francona then broke into a small smile and added of the postgame conversation, "I may have cursed." Francona was tossed with the Indians trailing 5-3 after Welke called a strike to Swisher on a 1-0 pitch. Francona, thinking the pitch was low and outside, yelled from the dugout and was quickly ejected. He came on the field and argued with Welke, holding his hands a couple of feet apart, apparently to show how far he thought the pitch was out of the strike zone. Francona fired his gum to the ground before leaving the field and yelled again at Welke when he returned to the dugout. Francona also argued with Welke about a call on the bases in the early hours of Saturday morning. Fuld led off the Rays fourth with a hit down the line in right field. The ball bounced off a ball boy, who atttempted to get out of the way as Fuld raced around the bases before finally stopping at third. Kevin Fiala Jersey. Francona talked it over with first base umpire Adrian Johnson and second base umpire Fieldin Culbreth, saying Fuld should have been sent back to second. The ruling, however was that the ball boy was in play and didnt intentionally interfere with the ball, and the triple stood. The play brought a chuckle from Maddon. "The ball could have gone farther down," he said. "It could have been a triple either way. Fortunately, Sammy was heads-up enough to keep going." Francona failed to see the humour in the play. "I was agitated because it was explained to me two different ways," he said. "The first time was completely screwed up, which is why I was so worked up. Cubby (Culbreth) let me vent a little bit after that, which I appreciated." Hellickson (3-2) allowed three runs in five innings. "I made a lot of good pitches," he said. "I was right where I wanted to be. Theyre a good hitting team." Zach McAllister (4-5) lasted only 4 1-3 innings -- his shortest start of the season -- and gave up five runs. Escobars homer in the sixth pushed the Rays lead to 7-3. Longoria drove in three runs. He homered to cap a four-run eighth and connected off Matt Langwell, who was facing his first hitter in his major league debut. Loneys double in the first put Tampa Bay ahead. Longoria added an RBI single in the third and Jose Lobatons infield hit made it 4-0 in the fourth. The Indians scored three times with two outs in the fourth. Yan Gomes RBI double and Mike Aviles two-run single cut the lead to 4-3. NOTES: LHP Matt Moore, tied for the AL lead with eight wins, will start Tuesday when the Rays open a three-game series in Detroit. .... RHP Alex Cobb, who missed his last start because of a cut finger, will start Wednesday for the Rays. ... Indians RHP Chris Perez (sore shoulder) has been cleared to resume throwing on Wednesday. Hes been on the 15-day disabled list since May 27. ... The Indians begin a nine-game road trip Monday against the Yankees. Cleveland RHP Justin Masterson (8-3) faces New York LHP Andy Pettitte (4-3) in the opener of the three-game series. ... Indians SS Asdrubal Cabrera got the day off. ... Cleveland OF Drew Stubbs is in a 0-for-16 slump. ... Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry threw out the ceremonial first pitch, then autographed the ball for Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr., who served as his catcher. Perry pitched for the Indians from 1972-75. 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