Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam, Josh Lowe had two hits and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Washington Nationals 7-4 on Sunday, completing a much-needed three-game sweep.
The Rays play their next seven games against the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians, two teams ahead of them in the American League wild-card race.
Brandon Lowe has homered in three of his past four games while driving in eight runs.
Tampa Bay starter Ian Seymour (3-0) allowed four runs (one earned) over five innings while striking out eight with one walk. Pete Fairbanks pitched the ninth for his 24th save.
Brady House and Daylen Lile each had two hits for the Nationals, who struck out 16 times while losing their eighth straight game.
With a runner on first and one out in the ninth, Lile lined a single to right-center but was thrown out on a close play at second, negating the chance of the tying run coming to the plate after House struck out to end the game.
Washington starter Brad Lord (4-8) was roughed up, allowing seven runs on five hits over three innings. The Nationals’ bullpen kept them in it as five pitchers combined for six scoreless frames.
The Rays took the early lead in the second. Jose Lowe led off with a double, and Bob Seymour singled him to third. Everson Pereira beat out a slow roller as Lowe scored to make it 1-0. Hunter Feduccia struck out, but Tristan Gray walked to load the bases. After Carson Williams walked to force in a run, Chandler Simpson struck out and Lord had a chance to get out of it, but Brandon Lowe smacked a 1-2 slider out of the park to right, making it 6-0.
Josh Lowe tripled to lead off the third, and made it 7-0 when he scored on Pereira’s sacrifice fly.
Washington got on the board when House singled in the bottom half and scored on Jacob Young’s double.
The Nationals pulled closer in the fourth. After Riley Adams walked and Andres Chaparro singled, third baseman Junior Caminero couldn’t come up with Dylan Crews’ grounder and Adams scored. With two outs and runners on second and third, House lined a single to left, scoring both runners to make it 7-4.
