Lowe, Rasmussen help Rays rout Yankees 8-2, improve to 30-9
NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Lowe drove in a career-high five runs, Drew Rasmussen extended his scoreless streak against the Yankees to 21 innings and the Tampa Bay Rays kept up their domination of New York with an 8-2 rout on Thursday night.
Lowe hit a three-run double off Ron Marinaccio to open a 4-0 lead in the sixth, then hit a two-run homer in a three-run eighth against Ryan Weber.
Tampa Bay improved to 3-1 against New York this season. The Rays are a major league-best 30-9 and dropped the last-place Yankees nine games back in the AL East.
Rasmussen (4-2) allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings with no walks and seven strikeouts, including Aaron Judge three times.
Domingo Germán (2-3) fell behind in the fifth when first baseman Anthony Rizzo allowed Lowe’s grounder to bounce off his glove for an error and Yandy Díaz hit a two-out RBI double.
REDS 5, METS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) — Kevin Newman hit a two-run single in Cincinnati's four-run first inning, and the Reds took two of three from New York.
The Mets lost for the fourth time in five games. They have dropped five series in a row for the first time since 2012.
New York right-hander Kodai Senga (4-2) allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings.
Ben Lively (1-0) pitched three innings of four-hit ball for his first win since his rookie season in 2017. Kevin Herget worked three innings for his first career save.
TWINS 5, PADRES 3
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carlos Correa hit a two-run double in the seventh inning, lifting Minnesota to the victory.
Kyle Farmer homered as Minnesota earned its second straight victory after a stretch of five losses in seven games. Emilio Pagán (3-0) got three outs for the win, and Jorge López pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
Correa, who returned to Minnesota when he finalized a $200 million, six-year contract in January, was booed again by the home crowd after two strikeouts earlier in the game. But he capped the Twins’ three-run seventh when he pulled a ground ball down the left-field line against Brent Honeywell (2-2).
San Diego star Fernando Tatis Jr. homered on the first pitch of the game. Rougned Odor connected for his first homer of the season.
ROYALS 4, WHITE SOX 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Freddy Fermin lifted Kansas City to the win, following a leadoff walk by Nick Pratto and a single by Matt Duffy with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning.
The Royals nursed a 3-1 lead into the eighth, but the White Sox tied it with a two-out rally against Aroldis Chapman. Andrew Vaughn and pinch-hitter Carlos Pérez singled, and Luis Robert Jr. bounced a tying double off the chalk of the left-field line.
In the ninth, Pratto worked a walk off Reynaldo López (0-3) before Maikel Garcia struck out. Duffy followed with a single to right, and Fermin laid down a bunt just in front of the plate that allowed Pratto slide home without a tag at the plate.
Scott Barlow (1-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
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The Associated Press