St. Petersburg, FL – Jarred Cosart certainly made a strong impression in his major league debut.
The Astros highly-touted prospect carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning as Houston edged the Rays, 2-1, to snap Tampa Bay's eight-game winning streak.
Cosart (1-0), who was drafted in the 38th round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 but was traded to Houston in a deal for Hunter Pence, allowed just two hits and three walks over eight-plus innings. Bumpus Jones threw a no-hitter in his professional debut for the Cincinnati Reds in 1892, and is the only player to accomplish the feat in his first career start.
"All these guys have been great. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but went out there and did my thing," Cosart said. "Carlos (Corporan) did his thing behind the plate, and I just tried to hit my spots. To get eight innings in and get a win is all I can ask for. We have a great group of guys, and hopefully we just get on a roll here."
Ben Zobrist had the Rays' first hit with a hard-hit single through the hole on the right side with one out in the seventh inning.
David Price (3-5) needed just 87 pitches, 70 for strikes, to notch his sixth career complete game. He gave up two runs on eight hits while striking out three. The hard-throwing lefty also went the distance in his last start.
"Our eight-game winning streak was snapped. I can throw better. I just have to keep going," Price said.
The Rays went into their final at-bat trailing 2-0. Cosart issued a leadoff walk to pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson and was replaced by Jose Veras, who was able to get Yunel Escobar to ground into a double play.
Desmond Jennings then reached on shortstop Jake Elmore's throwing error, and moved to second on a defensive indifference. Luke Scott followed with a line drive single to center field to score Jennings. Zobrist then laced a base hit to center to put runners on the corners, but Veras caught Evan Longoria looking at strike three to seal the win. It was his 18th save of the season.
With the bases loaded in the first, Corporan ripped a base hit to center to score Elmore and Chris Carter.
Game Notes
Cosart was 7-4 with a 3.29 earned run average over 17 starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He also had 93 strikeouts through 93 innings before being called up on Friday. Houston optioned outfielder Jimmy Paredes to Oklahoma City to make room for Cosart ... The Astros snapped a three-game losing streak ... Cosart threw 96 pitches ... Scott extended his hitting-streak to eight games ... Price needed just 98 pitches to go the distance in his last start, a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on July 7 ... Price has allowed just three runs over his last 26 innings pitched.
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