ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jeffrey Springs got his first win in 16 months, Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Saturday.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash became the sixth active manager with 800 wins as the Rays returned to .500 at 61-61.
“Well, I didn’t even know it until after the game,” Cash said with a laugh. “Look, I’m happy and appreciate the guys. Every win is meaningful.”
Springs (1-1) allowed one run and four hits while striking out seven over five innings in his fourth start since Tommy John surgery on April 24, 2023.
The Diamondbacks have lost two in a row for just the second time since the All-Star break. They have overcome injuries to go 20-7 over that stretch and currently hold a National League wild card spot at 69-55.
“I know everybody wants to talk about us losing a series … I’m not concerned about it,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “I’m concerned about us playing our best baseball game today. We didn’t do that.”
Arizona had won its nine previous series.
“We’re going to be fine,” Lovullo said. “We’ve lost games because of identifiable things, and we’ll tighten that up and start playing better baseball.”
Arizona star Ketel Marte was the designated hitter after missing three games with a sprained left ankle and went 1 for 3 with a walk.
Lowe hit a sixth-inning two-run homer that made it 6-1. He had a ground-rule double in the second when his high fly got stuck on an overhanging catwalk that is in play.
Right fielder Randal Grichuk thought it was a 50-50 chance he would have caught the ball without the obstruction. It was the ninth ball to stick on a Tropicana Field catwalk since the park opened in 1998.
Josh Lowe had a first-inning RBI triple off Zac Gallen (9-6) and swiped home as part of a double steal as the Rays took a 2-0 lead.
Lowe joined Carl Crawford (nine games in 2009) as the only Tampa Bay players with a stolen base in six consecutive games.
Light-hitting Taylor Walls (.169) and Alex Jackson (.118) opened the second with singles against Gallen and scored on a base-hit by Yandy Díaz after pulling off a double steal of their own.
Gallen gave up four runs and nine hits in five innings.
“I just feel like I’ve been grinding,” Gallen said.
Jose Herrera had a fifth-inning RBI single for Arizona’s lone run.
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth and eighth but failed to score.
Díaz, who had three hits and two RBIs, was awarded a base hit when his grounder struck second base umpire John Bacon. A double play Arizona turned after the deflection was voided because the ball was dead after Bacon was hit. The Rays didn’t score in the inning.
Tampa Bay CF Jose Siri didn’t play for the second straight game after not running hard on a grounder on Wednesday.
“We’re asking guys to provide consistent effort,” Cash said. “We’re asking everybody to be part of that.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: RHP Zack Littell (right shoulder fatigue) was placed on the 15-day injured list.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (3-0, 2.48 ERA) is making his second start on Sunday since returning from a strained right shoulder. Rays LHP Tyler Alexander (5-3, 5.20 ERA) will start or follow an opener.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
