Lowe hits two HRs as Rays win 6th straight
Brandon Lowe is finding his form heading into the All-Star break.
Lowe homered twice and Mike Zunino also connected, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Saturday for their sixth consecutive win.
Ryan Yarbrough (6-3) pitched five innings of tworun ball, improving to 5-0 in his last 12 appearances. The left-hander is 8-1 in 16 appearances against Toronto.
Lowe has four career multihomer games, including May 21 against the Blue Jays.
After hitting under .200 for a large part of the season, Lowe went 2 for 3 and raised his average to .208.
GIANTS 10, NATIONALS 4 >> Brandon Crawford had three hits, including his 18th home run, and San Francisco routed Washington.
ATHLETICS 8, RANGERS 4, 11 INNINGS >> Jed Lowrie hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th inning after an earlier home run and Oakland beat Texas.
YANKEES 1, ASTROS 0 >> Gerrit Cole demanded on the mound that manager Aaron Boone let him get the final out, then struck out Yordan Alvarez with a 99 mph fastball on his career-high 129th pitch to cap New York’s win over Houston. Aaron Judge hit a solo homer for the Yankees.
BRAVES 5, MARLINS 4 >> Freddie Freeman had a two-run homer and an RBI single, while Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley ripped doubles in Atlanta’s win.
PHILLIES 11, RED SOX 2 >> Jean Segura and Alec Bohm homered, and Philadelphia snapped Boston’s ninegame home winning streak.
PIRATES 6, METS 2, 1ST GAME; METS 4, PIRATES 2, 2ND GAME >> Pete Alonso homered and Jeff McNeil drove in two runs as New York won the second game for a doubleheader split. In the first game, Tyler Anderson pitched five innings and hit a tiebreaking homer, leading Pittsburgh.
TWINS 9, TIGERS 4 >> Jorge Polanco hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and Minnesota rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Detroit.
WHITE SOX 8, ORIOLES 3 >> Brian Goodwin had four hits, including a solo homer, and drove in three runs as Chicago beat Baltimore for its fourth straight win.
INDIANS 14, ROYALS 6 >> César Hernández and Óscar Mercado each hit a three-run homer as Cleveland beat struggling Kansas City.
REDS 4, BREWERS 3 >> Eugenio Suárez hit a leadoff home run in the ninth inning against All-Star closer Josh Hader and Cincinnati beat Milwaukee in a game that included three ejections. Brewers manager Craig Counsell, Brewers star Christian Yelich and the Reds’ Joey Votto were ejected.
CARDINALS 6, CUBS 0 >> Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong and Tommy Edman homered in the fifth inning, and St. Louis blanked Chicago. Kwang Hyun Kim (45) struck out seven in six innings, permitting five hits and walking one. He extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings.