Lowe goes high in win

Rays level World Series at 1-1

BRANDON Lowe hit two home runs to power the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday that levelled the World Series at one game apiece.

Joey Wendle drove in three runs for the Rays, who will try to maintain momentum in game three of Major League Baseball’s championship show-case on Friday.

Home runs from Chris Taylor, Will Smith and Corey Seager were not enough for the Dodgers, who were coming off a dominant 8-3 victory in game one on Tuesday at the neutral site of Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Back in the World Series for the third time in four years, the Dodgers are seeking their first title since 1988.

The Rays are chasing a first championship, having fallen in their only World Series appearance, against Philadelphia in 2008.

Lowe gave Tampa Bay an early lead when he belted a fast ball from Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin over the centrefield wall for a solo homer with one out in the first inning.

Gonsolin lasted only 1 1/3 innings, but he wasn’t the only Dodger pitcher to be victimised by Lowe, who lined a two-run blast over the left field wall off the Dodgers’ fourth pitcher of the night, Dustin May, in the fifth inning to give the Rays a 5-0 lead.

That was after Tampa Bay third baseman Joey Wendle smacked a line drive double off May to drive in two runs in the fourth.

Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell, meanwhile, used a devastating slider to pitch four no-hit innings before Taylor tagged him for a two-out homer in the bottom of the fifth that cut the deficit to 5-2.

Taylor’s blast also scored Enrique Hernandez who had walked, and Snell then walked Mookie Betts and gave up a single to Corey Seager, prompting manager Kevin Cash to pull him in favour of reliever Nick Anderson — who struck out Justin Turner to end the inning.

Snell had nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings, giving up two hits and two runs with four walks.