Tampa Bay Rays Clips – August 21, 2015 Near-perfect Archer fires 1-hitter, Rays blank Astros By Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times HOUSTON — Chris Archer's Thursday night on the Minute Maid Park mound didn't begin well, a four-pitch walk to leadoff man Jose Altuve that flashed back to the struggles in his previous outing. But Archer's night couldn't have ended better, celebrating his complete-game one-hitter in the Rays' 1-0 victory over the Astros in a group jump with three other starting pitchers. "It felt awesome,'' Archer said. "There's really no better feeling than when you accomplish your goals, and it happens so infrequently. It's exhilarating.'' A Rays pitcher hadn't thrown a complete game in nearly a year, since Drew Smyly's gem at Toronto on Aug. 22, 2014, the 154 games in between the longest running streak by an American League team. But the Rays (60-61) needed Archer's masterful performance for more than a historic significance, coming off back-to-back extra-inning walkoff losses that taxed their bullpen and the news that top lefty reliever Jake McGee needed knee surgery and would miss most of, and potentially all of, the rest of the season. Manager Kevin Cash praised Archer for responding to the situation with his 98 pitch, 11-strikeout masterpiece. "It was kind of like an ace knowing what we were faced up against with our bullpen being stretched out the last two nights and he kind of took the game on his shoulders and really delivered,'' Cash said. "We needed that game.'' Archer, coming off a rough last outing Saturday against the Rangers, allowing 11 hits and eight runs (seven earned) while lasting only 5⅓ innings, said he was well aware. "I'm human, so I thought about the fact that our bullpen needed to breathe a little bit,'' he said. "It was either get 130 pitches and go six or seven, or go eight or nine and give everybody a complete blow. Yeah, I thought about it. I didn't let it really affect how I was pitching, I pitched normal, with the same mentality, but I knew that was going to be important.'' After the leadoff walk (erased by Rene Rivera catching Altuve trying to steal second), Archer retired 11 straight. That got him to the fifth with a no-hitter, but he allowed a leadoff single to Colby Rasmus, who grounded an 0-and-1 pitch to right. Then Archer retired the final 15 to finish the third complete game of his career, with the Rays bullpen not even stirring, and Cash — who has had a quick hook much of the season — saying, "It was going to be his ball game.'' Archer reached another milestone, his sixth strikeout getting him to 200 for the season, joining Scott Kazmir (team-record 239 in 2007), David Price (2011-12) and James Shields (2011-12) as the only Rays to do so. The Rays got their only run in the fourth, Desmond Jennings singling in Logan Forsythe, who took advantage for the second straight night of a second chance at-bat when his foul ball drifted just into the stands and out of Rasmus' reach in right. He singled on the next pitch, went to second on a Collin McHugh wild pitch and came around on Jennings' two-out, two-strike single. Add in some excellent pitch-calling by Rivera and dazzling defense all around the field. Then all it took was Jake Odorizzi explaining to Erasmo Ramirez and Nathan Karns what to do when they got to the mound, and Archer's night was complete. Rays' McGee injured, might be out for season By Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times HOUSTON — The depth of the Rays' bullpen will be further tested with top lefty reliever Jake McGee sidelined for potentially the rest of the season due to a meniscus tear in his left knee that requires surgery today. "It (stinks), that's probably the easiest way to put it," All-Star reliever RHP Brad Boxberger said. "We lost (RHP Kevin) Jepsen earlier (when he was traded to the Twins on July 31), and now we lose McGee. It's definitely going to be a different look in the bullpen for the rest of the year." Manager Kevin Cash said the Rays will continue to make late innings a group effort, with LHP Xavier Cedeno and RHPs Alex Colome, Steve Geltz and Brandon Gomes likely to inherit some of McGee's high-leverage duty. LHP Enny Romero, who was sent down Tuesday night, was recalled, with McGee going on the disabled list. Romero had returned to Triple-A Durham on Wednesday, and the Rays had him fly back to Houston on Thursday. "We'll kind of mix and match, kind of as we've done all year long," Cash said, "just with some different names." Cash also said the absence of McGee won't make Boxberger, who entered Thursday second in the American League with 29 saves, the automatic closer, either. "If we think it's best for 'Box' to come in and get three big outs in the eighth, then we'll do that," he said. And if they do, Cash said, he will pick one from the others to close out the game. "We could see anybody in the seventh, eighth or ninth inning," he said. McGee, known for his overpowering fastball, felt something give in the knee on the second-to-last delivery of his season-high 33-pitch outing Tuesday against the Astros. The Rays hoped he would need just a few days off, but they sent him back to St. Petersburg for a Thursday morning MRI exam and a visit with team orthopedist Dr.Koco Eaton, and the tear was diagnosed. After today's surgery, the Rays will have a better sense if it's possible for McGee — 1-2, with six saves and a 2.57 ERA — to return before the Oct. 4 end of the regular season. He missed the first month of the season recovering from December elbow surgery. "It's frustrating," Cash said. "Jake is such a big part of our bullpen, part of our team. … Hopefully we'll see him back." SMYLY A GO: LHP Drew Smyly is hoping tonight's second start after his three-month DL stint for shoulder issues goes better than his first on Sunday, when he allowed five Rangers runs and lasted only four innings. "I'm healthy, and I feel good, my arm feels good," Smyly said. "I had a bad game. I'm looking forward to Oakland. I'm not thinking about the injury; I'm not thinking about Texas. It's one game. People have bad games. Hopefully I can pitch better. That's what it comes down to. … And I think with more repetitions and more bullpens and more games, I can only go up." Smyly's fastball was clocked mostly in the 88-91 mph range on the stadium board, which Cash said is known to be a few mphs slow. But Smyly said velocity isn't as much a concern as command and that getting his curveball under control will be a big plus. ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHT: After Boxberger gave up a one-run lead in the ninth against the Astros, the Rays ended up walkoff losers for the second straight night and MLB-most 10th time overall. Rookie RHP Matt Andriese allowed an RBI single to Carlos Correa that scored Colby Rasmus, who drew a leadoff walk and went to third on Jose Altuve's single. … Cash said he understood the morning-after debate over not walking the hot-hitting Correa but said Thursday he still felt it was the right move not to take away Andriese's margin for error by loading the bases. He did say if Andriese had fallen behind 2- and-0, he would have put Correa on. … Cash also said it would have been "absolutely ridiculous" to extend Colome into the ninth after he worked a dazzling eighth, striking out Houston' 1-2-3 hitters on 10 pitches. … Cedeno set a team record with his 15th straight appearance with no walks and no runs. MISCELLANY: The Rays' 10 walkoff losses are one shy of the team record set in 2002; Wednesday marked the eighth time they've had consecutive walkoff losses, the second time this season (July 3-4 at Yankees). … .The Rays are a majors-worst 2-10 in extra innings and have lost a team-record-tying eight straight in extras, the longest such streak in the majors since the Mariners lost eight in 2013. … The Rays' 22-52 record in Oakland is their worst in any AL road city. Archer breezes through one-hit shutout as Rays earn split at Houston By Roger Mooney, Tampa Tribune HOUSTON -- Chris Archer took a selfie in Cincinnati with sisters Haley and Kaitlin, who he met at the All-Star Game, and promised them a good outing when he pitched in their town. That came Thursday, and Archer delivered one of the best of his career, a one-hit shutout to pace the Tampa Bay Rays to a 1-0 victory against the Houston Astros, the team managed by A.J. Hinch, who happens to be Haley’s and Kaitlin’s father. “I’d like to have them in the stands or at least watching every game I throw from here on out, because the outcome’s good when they’re watching,” Archer said. It was the third complete-game shutout of Archer’s career, his first since 2013.