Brandon Lowe drove in five runs as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays continued to dominate the Miami Marlins, winning 9-5 on Tuesday night.
Since 2019, the Rays are 22-3 against Miami.
Pete Fairbanks entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the ninth. However, he got three consecutive outs, allowing no runner to advance for his seventh save of the season.
Lowe stroked a three-run homer and added a two-run double. He was hitting just .170 with one homer and eight RBIs in 53 at-bats through the end of May, but in 11 at-bats this month, he is batting .364 with one homer and five RBIs.
Miami’s Bryan De La Cruz homered and knocked in two runs, and Otto Lopez also had two RBIs.
Rays starter Ryan Pepiot (4-2) allowed three first-inning runs but finished with a quality start. His final line: six innings, six hits, three runs, no walks and eight strikeouts. He retired 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.
Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo (2-5) was dominant through the first three innings. However, he lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and a career-high nine runs. Luzardo walked two and struck out two.
Miami opened the scoring in the first inning with three runs. De La Cruz started the scoring with a one-out solo homer. Jake Burger singled before Josh Bell hit an RBI triple to the corner in right field. With two outs, Lopez singled to make it 3-0.
Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead in the fourth. The rally started with Randy Arozarena’s leadoff walk, Isaac Paredes’ one-out single and Lowe’s first-pitch homer that barely curled inside the right field pole.
The rally continued as Amed Rosario singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Jose Siri’s go-ahead double to left-center.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out in the fifth. Paredes hit a two-run single and Lowe added a two-run double, giving Tampa Bay an 8-3 lead and knocking Luzardo out of the game.
Rosario capped the inning with an RBI single.
The Marlins cut their deficit to 9-4 in the seventh on De La Cruz’s RBI groundout.
In the eighth, Bell doubled, advanced on a grounder and scored on Lopez’s sacrifice fly, making it 9-5.
The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth on singles by Tim Anderson, pinch hitter Vidal Brujan and Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Fairbanks came in and struck out De La Cruz and Burger before getting Bell on a groundout to end the game.
–Field Level Media
