Astros halt Rays' 14-game home winning streak

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Luis Garcia scattered three hits over six innings, and the Houston Astros ended the Tampa Bay Rays' 14-game season-opening home winning streak 5-0 on Tuesday night.

Only three teams had a longer run than the Rays, who are 20-4 overall.

The 1880 Chicago White Stockings, who became the Cubs, hold the MLB record for the longest season-opening home streak with 21. The 1886 Detroit Wolverines had an 18-game stretch, while the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association won 16 in a row, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The announced crowd for the game between the MLB-best Rays and the defending World Series champion Astros at Tropicana Field was just 9,916.

Garcia (2-2) struck out seven, walked two and allowed just one runner to reach scoring position. The right-hander was coming off a start last Wednesday in which he gave up two hits over seven shutout innings in an 8-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tampa Bay entered outscoring its opponents 157-64. The Rays were held homerless for the second consecutive game after going deep 48 times during an MLB-record 22 straight games to begin the season.

It was the first time the Rays have been shut out this season.

Phil Maton, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined to finish a five-hitter.

Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubón doubled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 19 games and scored the game's first run to start a five-run inning off Drew Rasmussen (3-2) when Jeremy Peña doubled on the next pitch.

Kyle Tucker had an RBI single, and José Abreu and Corey Julks had run-scoring doubles before Jake Meyers drove in a run with a single that ended Rasmussen's night.

Rasmussen allowed five runs and nine hits, and had his ERA climb from 2.01 to 3.33.