The Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up their brief three-game homestand Wednesday afternoon and salvaged the last game of the series, 6-5, to avoid being swept by the Oakland Athletics.
The Athletics won the first two games in the series by scores of 6-4 and 4-3 (10 innings).
Ryan Pepiot struggled in the first inning of Wednesday’s game after getting the first two Athletic hitters. He allowed a solo home run to Tyler Soderstrom and then walked two Athletic hitters before getting out of the first inning.
Max Schuemann would hit a solo homer in the second inning to put the Athletics up 2-0.
In the bottom of the second, Jake Mangum hit an inside-the-park home run, his second homer of the season, to cut the deficit to 2-1.
It would stay 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when the Rays would chase Athletic starter Mitch Spence.
Josh Lowe would lead off the inning with his sixth home run of the season to tie the game at two.
Brandon Lowe would double, and then Yandy Diaz would hit his 14th homer of the season to give the Rays a 4-2 lead.
The Rays added two more runs in the inning, making it a 6-2 game after six innings.
The Rays would send nine batters to the plate in the sixth inning, the 17th time this season that the Rays have batted around in an inning.
The Rays were cruising until the bottom of the ninth when Max Muncy led off the inning with a 400-foot blast to center, and cut the Athletics’ deficit to 6-3.
Austin Wynn singled, followed by a Gio Ursela double, and suddenly, it was a 6-4 game.
The Athletics would score one more run off Edwin Uceta before Uceta would strike out Brent Rooker and Nick Kurtz to finish off the Rays’ win.
The Rays are now 2-4 in their last two series’ against last-place teams, Baltimore and the Athletics.
In the win Wednesday afternoon, Rays pitchers recorded a season-best 17 strikeouts, after striking out 15 Athletic hitters on Tuesday night.
Ryan Pepiot won the game for the Rays to improve to 6-6 on the season, with nine strikeouts after working six innings. Pepiot threw 100 pitches in the win, with a third of those coming in the first inning.
Josh Lowe talked about the win and setting the tone for the upcoming road trip: “That was a big one today. We just needed a reset day tomorrow, but glad we could finish this little portion strong, get a win, and have some momentum going into the road trip. It goes to show once we get going on offense, not much can stop us.
The Rays are now embarking on a 10-game road trip that will take them to Minnesota, Detroit, and Boston.
The Rays will start Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, and Drew Rasmussen against the Twins this weekend.
Brandon Lowe has an 18-game hitting streak for the Rays. Jason Bartlett is second on the Rays for getting on base safely, having done it in 19 consecutive games in 2009. Yandy Diaz is the leader for the Rays, having had a 20-game hitting streak in 2023.
Lowe is also having one of the best seasons of his career. He is hitting .272, which is a career high. Lowe is third on the team in hits and second in home runs and RBIs. Lowe has been injury-free this season, which has helped him stay in the lineup and have a big offensive season. Lowe currently leads second basemen in the American League with 20 home runs.