TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit his 30th home run of the season and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 Sunday night to avoid a series sweep.
The Rays (76-80) snapped an eight-game losing streak against Boston.
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Despite the loss, the Red Sox (85-71) maintained their one-game lead in the race for the AL’s second wild card as Cleveland and Houston also lost Sunday.
The Rays finished with a 41-40 home record at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Yankees, after Tropicana Field was damaged by Hurricane Milton in October. Tampa Bay, which closes the season with six road games, secured its ninth straight winning record at home.
Tampa Bay capitalized on rookie Connelly Early’s rough first inning. Chandler Simpson led off with a single, Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero walked and Christopher Morel followed with a two-run double. The Rays added a third run in the inning on a Boston error.
Lowe added insurance in the seventh with a homer off Steven Matz, reaching 30 or more homers for the second time in his career. The Rays then broke it open with four runs off Boston rookie Payton Tolle in the eighth.
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Boston’s aggressive baserunning, which fueled rallies earlier in the series, backfired in this game. Romy Gonzalez was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on Nathaniel Lowe’s grounder through shortstop. In the fifth, Jarren Duran was picked off first after a walk.
The Red Sox went 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position and struck out 14 times. Lowe struck out three times with men on, stranding eight.
Garrett Cleavinger (2-6) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Early (1-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Key moment
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In his second relief appearance, Tolle entered with Boston trailing by a run and allowed four runs in the eighth.
Key stat
The Rays announced a sellout crowd of 10,046, their 61st sellout, giving them a total season attendance of 786,750.
Up next
Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (11-11) starts Tuesday at Baltimore.
Red Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (10-4, 3.46 ERA) faces the Blue Jays in Toronto on Tuesday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB