ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brandon Lowe said he and hitting coach Chad Mottola figured something out Wednesday about the reason for his ongoing struggles this season.
That showed Friday in a 4-2 win over the Orioles, as Lowe had the biggest hit, a two-run homer in the fourth inning off left-hander Keegan Akin, just his fifth hit off a lefty in 65 at-bats this season.
Combined with a solid six-inning start from Ryan Yarbrough, the usual solid relief work and a couple other key hits, the Rays won for the 21st time in 26 games and improved their American League-leading record to 40-24.
Lowe had struggled pretty much all season, going into play Friday on an 0-for-15 skid, hitting .188 (second-lowest in the league) with 10 homers, 25 RBIs and 76 strikeouts (third-most) overall.
The Rays got their other runs in some uncommon ways.
In the third, catcher Mike Zunino singled, went to second on Kevin Kiermaier’s single, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield out.
And in the seventh, Kiermaier doubled, his first two-hit game since May 31, and scored on a single by Manuel Margot.
Yarbrough was on the mound for the first time since June 3, when he threw his first career complete game, the Rays’ first since 2016.
He didn’t match that feat but pitched well over six innings, allowing two unearned runs — after his error extended the third and Trey Mancini hit a two-run homer off Yarbrough, his third in 20 career at-bats. He allowed only three hits and struck out six.
Andrew Kittredge, J.P. Feyereisen (who walked two in the eighth) and Pete Fairbanks followed.
