Josh Lowe clubbed a pair of home runs while Zack Littell pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays evened their three-game series against the Houston Astros with a 6-1 victory on Saturday.
Lowe, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, erased a 1-0 deficit with his sixth home run, a two-run shot in the top of the fifth that came with two outs on an 0-2 count. The 373-foot blast to right field came against Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco (9-6), who pitched in and out of trouble over the first four innings before he attempted to sneak a second consecutive fastball by Lowe with Brandon Lowe on first base.
Blanco allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over five innings. Blanco stranded baserunners in each of his first four innings, including five in scoring position, before surrendering the two-run home run to Lowe. He is winless over his last four starts and has just one win over his last seven outings.
Jon Singleton spotted Blanco a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his ninth homer, a one-out shot that just cleared the right field wall. Littell (5-7) limited the damage to that run and worked around two singles in the third before retiring the final 10 batters he faced.
After Littell allowed one run on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings, four Rays relievers stifled the Astros the remainder of the way by combining to retire the final 10 batters.
Lowe socked his second home run of the game and seventh on the season with two outs in the seventh off Astros reliever Tayler Scott, who surrendered a leadoff homer to Yandy Diaz earlier that inning that stretched the deficit to 3-1.
Diaz and Lowe both took advantage of the modest dimensions at Minute Maid Park, with Diaz covering only 344 feet on his 10th homer while Lowe dumped a 339-foot shot into the first row of seats of the Crawford Boxes in left field.
Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Yordan Alvarez was the only Houston batter with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 with a double.
–Field Level Media
