ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Courtesy of Major League Baseball's annual September roster expansion, a familiar face joined the Rays to drive in the go-ahead runs in Sunday's series finale against the Indians.
Nate Lowe, back with the big league club after spending August in Triple-A, slugged a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth inning, leading the Rays to a 8-2 win over the playoff-contending Indians.
After Sunday's win, the Rays (80-58) took control of a wild-card spot. They now hold a { game lead over the Indians (79-58) in the AL wild-card race.
With the game tied at one in the fourth, shortstop Willy Adames drew a one-out walk off Cleveland starter Adam Plutko. Adames attempted to steal second, but he was gunned down by catcher Kevin Plawecki. After centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier drew a bases-empty walk, Lowe, batting eighth as the designated hitter, slugged a 442-foot home run to give the Rays a 3-1 lead.
Lowe charged his home run ball with an exit velocity of 108.6 mph, his hardest-hit home run in the bigs, per MLB's Baseball Savant.
Travis d'Arnaud provided the breathing room with a pair of run-scoring hits for the Rays. With runners on first and second and Ji-Man Choi due up, Indians manager Terry Francona turned to his bullpen and called lefty Oliver Perez to the mound. Rays manager Kevin Cash countered, pinch-hitting d'Arnaud for Choi, and the catcher-turned-first baseman came through with a run-scoring double. The hit briefly gave the Rays a 5-1 lead as home plate umpire Dan Iassogna ruled Tommy Pham safe at the dish, but replay review found Pham out and returned the score to 4-1.
Two innings later, Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco took the mound for Cleveland, making his first outing back from Leukemia. After missing three months of play, Carrasco toed the rubber to a standing ovation to from 14,922 at Tropicana field.
Tommy Pham doubled off Carrasco, and d'Arnaud drove him in on a single to left field for his second RBI of the day. Over eight games since August 21, d'Arnaud is hitting .400 with a double and two home runs.
Mike Zunino, Eric Sogard and Austin Meadows chipped in with run-scoring singles for three insurance runs in the eighth.
Rotation stalwart Charlie Morton, coming off an outing in which he allowed six-runs to the Astros, held the Indians to one run on four hits and three walks
With his outing, Morton has now fired 170 ? innings on the season, passing last season's mark of 167 and approaching his career high of 171 ?, set with the Pirates in 2011.
The Rays bullpen followed Morton with 3 ? innings of one-run ball. Recently-recalled Hoby Milner and Peter Fairbanks got the Rays through seven. Andrew Kittredge allowed a run in the eighth and left the game with runners on first and third. Righty Chaz Roe entered with two outs and forced a groundout from third baseman Yu Chang, getting out of the jam.
Ricardo Pinto closed the door with a perfect ninth, securing the sweep and pulling the Rays ahead of the Indians in the AL wild-card hunt.
