Astros Swept by the Rays in Brutal 14-4 Finale

The Houston Astros took on the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday afternoon for the third and final game of the series. After dropping two in a row, the Rays completed the sweep with a blowout, 14-4. A brutal series for the Astros, especially since they were on somewhat of an upswing. Now with the Rangers just two games back, the Astros have fallen back to .500.

Here is a look at the brutal loss for the Astros and what comes next for Houston.

Hayden Wesneski took the mound for Houston, and Freddy Peralta for Tampa Bay. Peralta was excellent, extending his winning streak to four straight starts. He gave up three walks, all in the third inning, but that was the extent of the damage against him. He did not allow a hit all afternoon. Peralta went 5.0 innings, allowing zero hits and zero runs while striking out 4 and walking 3. He threw 86 pitches.

Hayden Wesneski, on the other hand, was not looking his best in Tampa. Wesneski went just 3.0 innings, allowing 6 hits and 7 runs (3 earned), while walking 2 and striking out 2. He threw 62 pitches, 39 for strikes.

The Rays jumped on him early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Things got worse in the third: a two-out popup dropped by Jeremy Peña let in a fourth run, and Richie Palacios followed with a three-run homer to make it 7-0. Not a great moment for Wesneski, and after falling behind 7-0, that's a tough hole for any offense to climb out of.

Once Wesneski left the game, the bullpen didn't fare much better. Tampa Bay already had 11 runs before the Astros even made it on the board, and it wasn't until the sixth inning that Houston picked up its first hit of the entire game, when Isaac Paredes crushed a two-run home run off Brody Hopkins, who was making his major league debut. Even so, the Rays just kept driving in the runs. Nick Allen launched a home run, but at that point it was just a stat. Nelson Velázquez followed him with another homer, but that was all for the Astros.

The loss capped off a rough series and gave Tampa Bay their 90th win of the season, the first AL team to reach that mark this year, and the majors-best 15th series sweep for the Rays. Now the Astros are heading home to face the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.