BOSTON _ The Rays gave Blake Snell something somewhat uncommon on Sunday, a pair of runs before he even took the mound at Fenway Park.
Snell responded with a strong outing, allowing the Red Sox just one run as he battled his way through six innings.
And the result was somewhat familiar, albeit not recently, as the Snell got his first win in more than a month in the 6-1 victory.
The Rays improved to 40-24 in taking three of four from the Red Sox and held on to their share of first place in the AL East as the Yankees were able to beat the Indians on Sunday. They headed home for a seven-game stand at Tropicana Field vs. the A's and Angels.
Brandon Lowe had a big hand in the win, knocking in the first run with the third of four straight singles by the Rays off Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez, and hitting two long home runs _ 455 and 435 feet _ to center, giving him a team-leading 13 on the season.
Guillermo Heredia and Yandy Diaz also homered as the Rays went deep four times on the day.
Snell hadn't won since May 6, but his five-start dry spell, second longest of his career, wasn't all his fault as his teammates hadn't given him much help.
That has been the case most of his Cy Young follow-up season, as his overall run support of 3.41 per nine innings going into play Sunday was third lowest in the league, and the Rays has scored one or no runs for him in seven of his first 12 starts. Related, they were just 5-7 in those games.
Rays manager Kevin Cash foresaw a strong showing Sunday.
"That would be really beneficial if we could kind of pick up Blake," he said before the game. "He's done so many good things for us over the last two years, maybe it's our turn to pick him up a little bit and give him some breathing room."
The Rays got him the two in the first as Diaz, Tommy Pham, Lowe and Avisail Garcia singled and Travis d'Arnaud followed with a sac fly. They could have mad more, but Pham was thrown out trying to stretch his single off the big green wall into a double.
They made it 3-0 in the second when Heredia homered. Snell allowed his only run when Sam Travis Jackie Bradley Jr. singled to open the second and with two outs No. 9 hitter Marco Hernandez did the same.
The game stayed 3-1 until the sixth, when Lowe launched his first blast into the seats beyond the triangle in center field. They took the lead from 4-1 to 6-1 when Diaz and Lowe homered in the seventh.
Snell had to work a bit, throwing 41 pitches in the first two innings and 105 total to get his 18 outs, but it was enough. Oliver Drake worked the seventh and eighth, and Adam Kolarek the ninth.
Charlie Morton will be on the mound for the Rays on Monday night, with the A's starting Triple-A call-up Tanner Anderson.
