Civale sharp; Lowe goes deep for Tampa Bay

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RAYS 8, BLUE JAYS 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Civale allowed one run over six innings and Brandon Lowe hit his fourth career grand slam to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 8-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

Sporting retro Devil Rays uniforms the team will wear for 13 Friday home games this year, the Rays rebounded from a lopsided opening loss and drew a crowd of 18,653 at Tropicana Field — down from the announced sellout of 25,025 the AL East rivals attracted the previous day.

Tampa Bay improved to 12-3 in the throwback jerseys they’ve donned on Devil Rays Days since the start of last season.

Civale, a trade deadline acquisition who helped the Rays withstand injuries and make their fifth consecutive playoff appearance, limited the Blue Jays to George Springer’s home run and three singles before turning over a five-run lead to the bullpen.

“He just kept commanding the baseball,” Rays Manager Kevin Cash said. “It’s elite command we know that he has. Felt like today he had everything going — cutter, curveball and the fastball.”

Chris Devenski pitched two scoreless innings and Jason Adam yielded a sacrifice fly in the ninth while finishing a six-hitter.

Toronto starter Chris Bassitt (01) won a career-high 16 games last season, tying Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin for the most in the American League. The right-hander began strong, striking out his first four batters, but ran into trouble in the third when shortstop Bo Bichette’s fielding error helped the Rays load the bases with no outs.

Lowe’s grand slam to right-center on a 2-2 pitch traveled 444 feet. The second baseman had 21 home runs and 68 RBI last season, but spent two stints on the injured list and didn’t play after Sept. 21.

“It’s nice to have him in the lineup. If we can keep him in the lineup we’re going to get a lot of those swings,” Cash said.

Randy Arozarena’s RBI single made it 5-1 in the fifth. Jose Caballero drove in a run in the sixth and defending AL batting champion Yandy Díaz tacked on a two-run single in the eighth.

Bassitt allowed six hits and five runs — four earned — over five innings. The 35-year old right-hander didn’t feel he pitched poorly.

“I felt really good. I felt I threw my pitches, basically where I wanted them … (except for) one pitch,” Bassitt said. “Obviously he’s an unbelievable hitter, had 20-plus homers whatever he had last year. I just can’t make that mistake.”

Springer also homered in Toronto’s 8-2 victory on Thursday. Alejandro Kirk drove in the Blue Jays other run with his sacrifice fly off Adam.

YANKEES 7, ASTROS 1 Oswaldo Cabrera had a career-high four hits with three RBI and Giancarlo Stanton added a home run to lead New York over Houston. The victory, in which second baseman Gleyber Torres exited after being on a hand with a pitch, came after New York rallied from a four-run deficit for a 5-4 win in Thursday night’s season opener. Juan Soto had three hits and put the Yankees ahead when he drew a bases-loaded walk in a two-run seventh. Cristian Javier limited the Yankees to four hits across six scoreless innings before they broke through in the seventh. Tayler Scott (0-1) walked Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells with one out in the seventh. Cabrera singled on a grounder to left field to score Volpe and tie it at 1-1. Scott then hit Torres on the right hand with a 93.1 mph fastball, loading the bases. Torres fell to the ground and writhed in pain for a couple of minutes before being checked by an athletic trainer and remaining in the game. He took the field to start the bottom of the seventh but was replaced by Jahmai Jones during a mound visit with one out in the inning.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 7, MARLINS 2 Ke’Bryan Hayes had a single and an RBI double, and Pittsburgh used another solid pitching outing to beat Miami. Michael A. Taylor and Connor Joe also doubled for the Pirates. Starter Martin Perez held the Marlins to one run through four innings, allowing 6 hits with 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. Jake Burger drove in Miami’s first run with a single in the third that scored Arraez, who remains hitless in the series. Burger had his second consecutive-multi hit game, but the Marlins have been hurt by grounding into seven double plays this season.