Nate Lowe homered and drove in a pair, Kevin Kiermaier added two RBI, and Ryan Yarbrough snapped a streak of 16 straight winless appearances, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Washington Nationals 6-1 Tuesday at Tropicana Field.
Lowe's home run, his third of the season, opened the scoring with one out in the bottom of the second off Nats starter Anibal Sanchez. Later in the inning, Kevin Kiermaier singled, took second on a balk, and scored on a base hit by Kevan Smith, extending Tampa Bay's lead to 2-0,
The Rays added four more runs in the fifth, as Austin Meadows led off the inning with a base hit off Sanchez and stole second base. Mike Brosseau was hit by a pitch, and Yoshi Tsutsugo walked to load the bases. Manuel Margot singled in Meadows to make it 3-0 and chase Sanchez from the game. Ben Braymer walked Lowe to force in a run, and Kiermaier followed with a two-run single to make it 6-0.
Juan Soto scored on a RBI groundout by Kurt Suzuki in the sixth, but would get no closer, though they loaded the bases with one out against Ryan Sherriff in the ninth, forcing Rays manager Kevin cash to bring in Nick Anderson, who struck out both Luis Garcia and Yadiel hernandez to end the game and notch his fourth save.
The two sides finish out their two-game series Wednesday afternoon as Pete Fairbanks opens against Austin Voth. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10, with coverage on WDAE beginning at noon with The Inside Pitch.