​ST. PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 12: Bryan Baker #47 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after capturing his 40th save of the season during the game between the Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday, September 12, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images One night after clinching a playoff spot, the Tampa Bay Rays went right back to work.The Houston Astros did not waste much time to test whether Tampa Bay had moved past the previous night’s celebration.Ian Seymour struck out Jeremy Peña to begin the game before former Ray Isaac Paredes sent a solo home run into left-center field for a 1-0 Astros lead. Jose Altuve walked, and Yainer Diaz followed with a single, putting two more runners aboard with only one out.Isaac Paredes gets things started with his 20th homer of the year! pic.twitter.com/BLXp2pjBKm— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2026Seymour had seen enough. Daulton Varsho went down on a foul tip, and Christian Walker struck out swinging, beginning a stretch in which Houston’s lineup struggled to do much of anything against the Rays left-hander.Seymour retired the side in order in the second, struck out Peña and Paredes during a clean third and worked another clean inning in the fourth. He then turned the fifth into his most dominant inning of the night, striking out Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell and Christian Vázquez in succession.By then, Tampa Bay’s offense was finally ready to give him something to work with.Junior Caminero’s first-inning single was the only offense the Rays could generate through the first four innings against Peter Lambert. Victor Mesa Jr. changed that by leading off the fifth with a single, and Chandler Simpson followed with a liner into center that sent Mesa to third. Cedric Mullins dropped a sacrifice bunt that moved Simpson to second, giving Palacios two runners in scoring position with one out. Palacios took advantage, lining a single into center to score both Mesa and Simpson.Just like that, a 1-0 deficit became a 2-1 lead.Adjust your audio accordingly 🔊 pic.twitter.com/RbgOLGIIBU— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 12, 2026Palacios was caught stealing for the second out, keeping the lead from growing any larger, and that extra insurance would have helped as the game progressed. Seymour retired the first two Astros in the sixth before Altuve doubled to left, giving the Astros their first baserunner since the first inning. Diaz followed with a ground-ball single, bringing Altuve home and tying the game 2-2. Seymour recovered by getting Varsho to ground out, finishing his night after allowing two runs while striking out 10 Houston hitters throughout the evening.Tyler Wells kept the score tied in the seventh, working around a two-out walk to Trammell and striking out Vázquez to end the inning.That gave the Rays another chance to move back in front.Liam Hicks led off the bottom of the seventh with a doub