Mar 29, 2019 3 min read

Charlie Morton was solid in his debut for the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching five innings and striking out eight against his former team in a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

The 35-year-old right-hander, two seasons removed from helping Houston win a World Series, allowed two runs and three hits in his first start since signing a $30 million, two-year contract as a free agent.

Yandy Diaz lined an impressive solo homer off Astros starter Gerrit Cole (0-1), who also yielded three unearned runs in the third, when shortstop Aledmys Diaz’s throwing error paved the way for Tampa Bay. Diaz has two errors in two games filling in for injured regular Carlos Correa.

Tommy Pham’s RBI single trimmed Houston’s lead to 2-1, and Ji-Man Choi followed with a two-run single to put the Rays ahead 3-2.

Morton, who gave up a two-run double to Michael Brantley in the third, walked three and also hit a batter during an 85-pitch outing.

Four relievers combined to pitch four scoreless innings for the Rays, with Jose Alvarado striking out Tony Kemp with two runners on in the ninth for his first save.

It’s not the first time Morton faced a former team in his first outing with a new one. He also did it in 2009 after being traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The right-hander went 29-10 with a 3.36 ERA in 55 starts for Houston over the past two seasons. He won Game 7 in both the ALCS and World Series in 2017 for the Astros and was a first-time All-Star a year ago, when he won 15 games and posted a career-best 3.13 ERA.

Cole allowed five hits and four runs – one earned – while striking out 10 over six innings.

Toronto 6, Detroit 0: Matt Shoemaker pitched seven sharp innings to win his Toronto debut and the Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 6-0, giving Charlie Montoyo his first victory as a major league manager.

Justin Smoak and Freddy Galvis each drove in two runs, a day after the Blue Jays were blanked in a 10-inning loss.

National League

Brewers’ closer to miss season: Milwaukee Brewers reliever Corey Knebel says he will have Tommy John surgery and miss the season, a major setback for the NL Central champions.

Knebel revealed his decision Friday before Milwaukee played St. Louis.

The 27-year-old right-hander had been pitching with a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow since 2014, when he was pitching for the Texas Rangers. He has been sidelined since March 17, when he experienced discomfort in his elbow while pitching in a spring training game.

Knebel was 4-3 with 16 saves and a 3.58 ERA in 57 games last season. He was outstanding in the playoffs, pitching nine games with a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings as the Brewers relied on a dominant bullpen to come within one win of the World Series.

Knebel had 39 saves and was a 2017 NL All-Star.