It’s been a tough year at the plate for Brandon Lowe, but the Rays second baseman had a big day Saturday, hitting his 19th and 20th home runs of the year and driving in three as Tampa Bay earned its sixth consecutive win with a 5-2 decision over the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
Lowe wasted no time in giving Tampa Bay the lead, taking Ross Stripling‘s first pitch of the afternoon and sending it nearly on to the concourse beyomd the right field seats for a 1-0 lead.
Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough put up zeries in the first two fraes, but allowed a leadoff double to Santiago Espinal to start the third, and Marcus Semien came up two batters later and hit a two-run homer, his 22nd of the year, to give Toronto the lead.
But the Blue Jays’ lead would not last long, as Zunino started the home half of the inning by getting a 1-0 pitch from Stripling and launching it deep into the seats in left for his 19th home run of the year, tying Lowe for the team lead.
Kevin Kiermaier followed with a double to left-center, and Lowe broke the tie with Zunino by connecting for his 20th homer of the year to make it 4-2.
Yarbrough (6-3) was able to grind through the first five innings, with Matt Wisler working through the sixth and into the seventh. Pete Fairbanks struck out Semien to end the inning, then followed suit with Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the eighth to put up another zero.
Tampa Bay added one more run in the bottom of the eighth, as Austin Meadows singled off reliever Tim Mayza, and after steaking second off Jordan Romano, Randy Arozarena singled him in on a base hit to right.
Diego Castillo worked around a walk and a Taylor Walls error to finish out the game and earn his 13th save.
The win improves Tampa Bay’s record to 53-36 on the year.
The Rays can finish the first half of the schedule on a great note with a victory in Sunday’s finale, as Rich Hill (6-3, 3.65 ERA) takes on Robbie Ray (6-4, 3.36 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
