Lowe’s homers help even World Series 1-1
ARLINGTON, Texas – Really, you thought the Rays were going to go quietly into the night?
You thought this World Series was going to be a mismatch?
You thought that Brandon Lowe’s miseries were going to haunt him all winter?
Well, you sure don’t know this Rays team, or Lowe, who showed the Dodgers they plan to hang around for a while, delivering a powerful message Wednesday with their 6-4 victory and evening the World Series at 1-game apiece.
“I don’t think anybody in our clubhouse thought the series was over,” said Lowe, hitting .107 until his two-homer night. “We took care of business, and played our game.’’
The Rays’ offense, in a deep freeze, finally thawed with their greatest offensive output in a week, with Lowe hitting like Randy Arozarena, Blake Snell pitching like a Cy Young winner, and the Rays’ bullpen doing what they always do, shutting the door.
Just like that, the Rays won their first World Series game in 4,381 days, dating back to Oct. 23, 2008, and are alive for their first championship in franchise history. “If they win, we were down 2-0,’’ Rays third baseman Joey Wendle said. “It’s a completely different outlook on the series. We got some momentum.’’
And the belief that they never forgot to hit, after all.
This is a team that entered the game hitting .190 since the start of the ALCS. They had gone five consecutive games without scoring more than four games. They had set a postseason record hitting .230 or lower in 10 consecutive games.
But in Game 2, they got their swagger back, with 10 hits by eight players, and scoring runs off four different pitchers.
“Tonight’s game is more indicative of the type of team we have,’’ said Wendle, who had a key two-run double in the fourth inning, their only hit with a runner in scoring position. “We’ve done it all year. We’re confident we can keep doing it as well.’’
There’s no one more responsible for that confident feeling than Lowe.
This is was their MVP of the regular season, but when the postseason hit, he struggled. He got one hit in his first 36 at-bats, but Rays manager Kevin Cash kept showing confidence in him.
Lowe’s struggles were intensifying by the game. He didn’t even hit the ball out of the infield in Game 1. When he stepped to the plate in the first inning Wednesday, he was on a 4-for-52 skid (.077) with 19 strikeouts in 15 games, with starter Tony Gonsolin on the mound.
He swung and missed on Gonsolin’s 95-mph fastball. He patiently watched the next three pitches for balls. Gonsolin came back with a fastball. This time,
Lowe was ready, sending it over the leftcenter-field fence.
In the fifth inning, with Dustin May on the mound, the Dodgers’ fourth pitcher of the night, he fouled off May’s 97-mph fastball. He was fooled, swinging and missing on May’s curveball. May came back with another 86-mph curveball, Lowe swung, and sent it atop the left-field wall for a 2-run shot, while May looked up and screamed.
He became only the second American League second baseman to hit two homers in a game, last done by Tony Lazzeri of the 1932 New York Yankees, and the sixth second baseman overall.
Lowe circled the bases, stepped on home plate with his right foot, turned to the dugout, and there was shortstop Willy Adames, giving him a forearm shiver.
Lowe’s teammates knew the frustration and pain he was enduring. And finally, he was able to come through at the most critical time of the season.
“To say my mind wasn’t going in different places during the struggles,’’ Lowe said, “I would be lying to you. But as soon as I started dragging my feet, there was someone to pick me up and say, ‘Let’s get going.’’’
It would have been easy for Cash to sit him for at least a day, if not, drop him in the lineup, knowing that his slump was costing them games.
Cash refused, telling Lowe before every game that this would be the day.
“We’re not here if not for him,’’ Cash said. “Sometimes you have to allow some guys go to go through some rough patches, and he’s been through one. He can go quiet for a while, but when he gets hot, he’s as hot as hitter in the game.’’
Cash’s faith was almost out of loyalty. He watched him hit .269 with 14 homers and 37 RBI during the season with a .916 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage), with a team-leading 2.1 WAR. Cash saw the slumps.
But he also saw the torrid hitting streaks. He refused to give up on him now. Just like that, Lowe is back.