Brandon Lowe drove in three runs for the second straight night and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays benefited from 13 walks while downing the Detroit Tigers 5-3 on Friday.
Roman Quinn and Taylor Walls scored two runs apiece for the Rays, who have won the first two games of the four-game series. Tampa Bay trailed 3-2 before scoring three times in the eighth inning.
Rays starter Corey Kluber gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings, with five strikeouts and no walks. Jalen Beeks (2-1) got the win with an inning of scoreless relief, and Colin Poche escaped a ninth-inning jam for his seventh save.
Riley Greene hit a two-run homer for the Tigers, who have lost three straight and six of seven.
Detroit starter Bryan Garcia gave up only one hit in four scoreless innings but issued six walks. He struck out three.
Tampa Bay grabbed the lead in the eighth off Joe Jimenez (3-1), who walked Quinn and Walls to start the inning. Lowe then smacked a double down the right field line, knocking in both runners. Lowe scored on Isaac Paredes’ single.
The Tigers scored a run in the first. Greene led off with a single and was forced out by Victor Reyes. A bloop single by Javier Baez moved Reyes to second, and a flyout moved the runner to third. Reyes scored on Jeimer Candelario’s opposite-field single.
Tampa Bay had four baserunners in the second inning and failed to score. Randy Arozarena hit a one-out infield single but was caught stealing. Garcia then walked the bases loaded before retiring Lowe on a foul pop.
Detroit extended its lead to 3-0 with two out in the bottom of the inning. Akil Baddoo hit a two-out single before Greene ripped an opposite-field shot over the left field wall.
Will Vest, who replaced Garcia, also had trouble locating the plate but couldn’t escape unscathed. He walked his first batter in the fifth inning, Walls, as well as Ji-Man Choi with one down. David Peralta hit a two-out double to score Walls. Vest was removed after he walked Luke Raley. Jason Foley came in, and Arozarena grounded out with the bases loaded.
Quinn and Walls hit back-to-back singles off Foley with one out in the sixth. Lowe followed with an RBI single off Andrew Chafin, but the reliever retired the next batters, leaving the score at 3-2.
–Field Level Media