HRs by Lowe, Meadows sink Sox
ST. PETERBURG, Fla. — Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows homered and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the last-place Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Saturday night. Lowe hit a solo shot, his 12th of the season, off Marcus Walden (0-2) in the seventh for a 5-4 lead.
Tyler Glasnow (3-1) allowed four runs and six hits over seven innings for the Rays, who are a combined 15-4 against the Boston and the New York Yankees.
Diego Castillo worked the ninth to get his fourth save.
Boston, which was eliminated from the AL East title race, got homers from Michael Chavis and Christian Arroyo. The Red Sox stole six bases with Glasnow pitching.
The Red Sox are 2-17 against the Rays, Yankees and Atlanta, and are 14-14 5 4 against everyone else.
Arroyo tied it at 4 on his two-run drive in the seventh off Glasnow. The Rays starter had a finger on his pitching hand looked at during the fifth.
Manuel Margot had a two-run double off Chris Mazza during a three-run fourth that put the Rays up 4-2. Ji-man Choi strained his left hamstring while scoring on Nate Lowe’s single earlier in the inning.
Margot had two hits in three at-bats and is 14 for 22 in six games against Boston this season.
Meadows hit a leadoff homer off Nathan Eovaldi in the first.
Eovaldi, who had been out since Aug. 21 due to a right calf strain, gave up one run, three hits and struck out four in three innings.
Xander Bogaerts opened the fourth by walking on a 10-pitch at-bat, stealing second and third, and then scoring to give Boston a 2-1 lead on Kevin Plawecki’s single.
Chavis tied it at 1 on his
the American League’s eighth and final playoff berth and closed on Toronto (24-20) for second place in the AL East. After losing three of four at Camden Yards last weekend, the Yankees have outscored the Orioles 18-2 in this series.
“We just chased way too much outside the strike zone,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “That’s why we’re streaky.”
New York won despite going 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and making a season-high three errors.
Jonathan Holder (2-0) combined with Jordan Montgomery, Chad Green, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman on a four-hitter. Baltimore had a runner on third with one out in the 10th before Mullins lined to second baseman Tyler Wade with the infield in, and Hanser Alberto flied out.
Montgomery struck out a career-high nine, allowing three hits and an unearned run in 5 2/3 innings. Concentrating on not rushing his delivery, Mongtomery got five swings and misses third-inning drive.
Boston designated hitter J.D. Martinez was 0 for 4 and is hitless in 21 at-bats.
BOUND FOR COOPERSTOWN
The official lineup card from Friday night’s game in which the Rays became the first team since 1900 to start nine left-handed batters, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, is being sent to the baseball Hall of Fame.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: Manager Kevin Cash plans to keep CF Kevin Kiermaier (general body soreness) out of the lineup for a couple days. … SS Willy Adames talked Friday about using clear non-prescription glasses while batting at home but opted not to. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk.
UP NEXT
Red Sox LHP Martin Perez (2-4) will face Tampa Bay RHP Charlie Morton (1-2) in the series finale Sunday.
in the first inning. That was two more than during his entire outing Monday against Toronto, when eight of 18 batters reached base against him.
This is the 27-year-old left-hander’s first full season following Tommy John surgery in June 2018.
“I’m still getting better, so it’s encouraging to be putting together some good games and kind of figuring out where I need to be each game,” he said.
Baltimore tied the score in the sixth after Alberto singled leading off and took second when left fielder Brett Gardner bobbled the ball for an error. Alberto tagged up on a flyout and scored when, with the infield in, Ryan Mountcastle hit a pop to short rightcenter that glanced off the glove of second baseman Thairo Estrada for a single. Estrada backtracked for the ball rather than sprinting after it.
New York went ahead in the first when LeMahieu led off with his 200th double, a drive off the wall in leftcenter, and scored on Clint Frazier’s sacrifice fly.