RAYS DODGE A DEEPER HOLE Lowe hits pair of HRs to help Tampa beat L.A., knot Series
ARLINGTON, Texas — Blake Snell bullied the Dodgers through most of his outing and carried a no-hitter to the fifth inning. Not bad for his first World Series start. But when Snell finally yielded to the Dodgers bats, allowing a tworun home run to Chris Taylor, what was the star and former Cy Young winner’s response from the Globe Life Field crowd?
Loud cheers. No, not for Snell, but Taylor and the Dodgers as the crowd serenaded him for breaking up a no-no in a losing campaign.
Whatever the fans’ reaction, the Rays got the last laugh as they beat the Dodgers on Wednesday night, 6-4, to tie the World Series at one game apiece. Brandon Lowe provided the claps with his bat, smashing a pair of home runs in the win.
Lowe’s homers came in the first inning off of Dodgers starter To ny G o n - solin, and in the fifth inning off of reliever Brandon May. Gonsolin was pulled after just an inning and a third. Snell took a no-hitter into the fifth but went just 4.2 innings, striking out nine. The first hit Snell allowed was
C h r i s Ta y l o r ’s two-run homer.
Lowe and Joey
We n d l e each drove in three runs for the Rays. Lowe was hitting .107 in the postseason, and was in a 4-for-48 slide in the previous 13 games since the start of the AL Division Series.
The crowd was tough on the Rays. Ain’t this a neutral site? Hardly. Whether they succeed like they did in Wednesday’s win, or fall short, they should expect a stadium packed with socially- distant Dodgers fans cheering their opponents. For the first time all year, even during their bubble journeys, the Rays are on the road.
Take a stroll through the Globe Life Field corridors, one could find more Rangers gear on stadium staff than Rays fans in attendance. This isn’t entirely shocking of course — people aren’t exactly raring to funnel themselves into recycled air during a viral pandemic that hasn’t relented. But, if they did brave the elements for baseball, it appeared to be Angelinos most willing to ignoring their local government health officials on their trek to see To ny G o n - solin and Dustin May struggle through playoff games.
“Wa t c h the game at home.” read the first bullet. Throwing caution to the wind, the Dodgers fans traveling from around the country or settled in North Tex a s made Globe Life home.
On occasion, you might hear a lingering cowbell for the Tampa faithful or some praise for Tampa fan-favorite Ji-Man Choi. But the consensus swelled around the Los Angeles’ blue, not Tampa’s.
This is a dismal way to describe a Rays victory. They won! And they did it according to plan, wit timely hits from their standout second baseman Brandon Lowe, including a homer in the first off Gonsolin, plus a solid outing from Snell. They beat up on a Dodgers bullpenning plan that, again, exposed their weakpoints. Though the Rays allowed a late rally, they’ve evened the series, and have Charlie Morton -their best starting pitcher all postseason, going on Friday to help them take a lead.
But if they take this series, Tampa does it outmanned. Arlington is Dodgertown, at least through the next week.