This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Brandon Lowe bashed a two-run homer, starter Jeffrey Springs won for the first time since Tommy John surgery and the Tampa Bay Rays’ 6-1 win broke the Arizona Diamondbacks’ nine-series winning streak Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Brandon Lowe was 2-for-4 with his 15th homer along with a double, a walk, two runs and two RBIs.
Yandy Diaz went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Junior Caminero, Alex Jackson and Taylor Walls each had two of the Rays’ 13 hits.
In his fourth start since surgery in late April 2023, Springs (1-1) crafted five innings of one-run ball on four hits. He fanned seven with one walk over 76 pitches.
Winning their second straight game and clinching the series, the Rays were 4-for-4 in stolen-base attempts.
Rays manager Kevin Cash won his 800th game, sixth among active skippers.
Hampered by a 29-pitch first inning, Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (9-6) lasted just five innings and yielded four runs on nine hits. He struck out three, walked two and hit a batter.
Kevin Newman had two of Arizona’s five hits, all singles. Jose Herrera had an RBI single.
Following a three-game absence (right ankle sprain), Ketel Marte returned to his leadoff position as Arizona’s designated hitter and went 1-for-3 with a walk.
After a two-hit, two-RBI output in Friday’s dramatic 5-4 comeback win, Josh Lowe continued pounding Arizona pitching by ripping his first triple of the season to center in the first inning.
Brandon Lowe scored on it, and Caminero followed with a walk. He and Josh Lowe then executed a double steal, with the latter runner swiping home for a 2-0 lead.
Following a second double steal in the second, including the first of Jackson’s career, Diaz sliced a two-run single to right to double the lead.
The visitors had few good swings against Springs through four innings, as he recorded six strikeouts and allowed a lone hit on Newman’s looping single that first baseman Brandon Lowe dropped while attempting an over-the-shoulder catch.
The Diamondbacks broke through with their lone run in the fifth on Herrera’s single to right, but Springs got Jake McCarthy to fly out to center with the bases full for the southpaw’s final out.
In the sixth against reliever Dylan Floro, Brandon Lowe’s towering two-run homer to right made it 6-1.
Arizona filled the bases in the eighth, but Richard Lovelady retired pinch hitter Corbin Carroll on a slow grounder and pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.
–Field Level Media
