Before the fifth inning came, the Astros had pounded the Rays for 10 runs on 12 hits. Energized by a three-run second and a five-run third, where Marisnick and Derek Fisher went deep against Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb, chances the Rays would counter the Astros' barrage of offense were becoming slimmer by the inning.
With a two-run single second inning, Jose Altuve knocked his 48th hit in July, one shy of the Astros' single-month record, currently shared by Lance Berkman, Rusty Staub and Richard Hidalgo.