ST. PETERSBURG -- The near-20,000 fans at Tropicana Field simultaneously rose to their feet as Chris Archer took the walk back to the dugout. They were applauding his 118 pitches and his 7 2/3 innings. To that point, he'd allowed just two runs. It was a stat line indicative of the ace he'd been before and his mastery during Saturday's game.
But while Archer was great in Tampa Bay's 4-3 loss to Houston, he was never able to shut the door. After Brad Miller homered in the bottom of the third, he allowed two straight hits and a run to start the top of the fourth.