Lowe propels Rays over Jays
TAMPA BAY 4 TORONTO 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Brandon Lowe’s two-run triple snapped an eighth-inning tie and sent the Tampa Bay Rays over the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Saturday.
Lowe, batted hit .270 with 17 homers and 51 RBIs in 82 games as a first-time AL All-Star in 2019, hit a drive into the gap in rightcentre field off reliever Sam Gaviglio (0-1). It was especially sweet for the 26-year-old second baseman because he previously was 0 for 9 against the right-hander.
“I’m 1 for 1 this year,” Lowe said. “I could care less about last year.”
Gaviglio later balked, allowing Lowe to score the third run of the inning.
“He didn’t have it. He wasn’t locating stuff,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He’s usually very good. He just didn’t locate his pitches, and he paid the price.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash said Lowe, an exceptional fastball hitter, made a nice adjustment to deliver the game-winner.
“He’s proven in a short amount of time he can hit a fastball. He’s probably going to have to make some adjustments now and be able to handle some off-speed pitches,” Cash said. “Today, he did. It looked like he got a changeup just enough up that he was able to put it in the gap.”
Ji-Man Choi drove in Tampa Bay’s other run with a sixthinning double off Matt Shoemaker, who made his first start for the Blue Jays since injuring his left knee in April 2019. The right-hander yielded one run and three hits in six innings.
“It’s exciting to say the least.
We’re finally back to baseball,” Shoemaker said. “Obviously, it’s different circumstances but building back up, getting ready and finally getting back out there, where we all want to be.”
HOUSTON 7 SEATTLE 2
HOUSTON — Lance McCullers Jr. was solid in his return from Tommy John surgery, Yuli Gurriel and George Springer homered and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners for the 15th straight time, 7-2 on Saturday.
McCullers (1-0) yielded five hits and two runs over six innings in his first game since the 2018 playoffs. He got double plays from his defence to escape jams in the first two innings before settling in to get the win, striking out six. Houston went 18-1 against the Mariners last year and beat them 8-2 in the opener Friday.