Monday, 4 a.m.
Evidently, reports of the demise of Brandon Lowe's bat were greatly overexaggerated.
Turns out, the big bat the Rays were seeking at the Trading Deadline might be his.
Lowe, who has scuffled with his batting average all season, stayed hot Sunday night in the Tampa Bay Rays' 3-2 victory over Boston, a sweep that has left them in front of the AL East by a game and a half.
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Lowe hit a two-run homer to lead the Rays' victory, a tight affair to that promised of the division race to come.
Lowe is still hitting just .224, but considering he was at .188 on June 11, that's a pretty good climb. He's hit .281 since then, and he has 20 RBI in the last 28 games. He has 23 homers on the season.
"Baseball is a very humbling game," Lowe said. "I understand every day I have to come and put my work in. At the flip of a switch, I can go back to hitting .180 or whatever I was. It’s one of those games that as soon as you think you’re too good for it, it can humble you and put you in your place."
Lowe enjoyed the sweep by the Rays.
“It felt like the postseason, honestly," Lowe said. "We knew these games were huge. They’re going to play their best baseball against us like we’re going to throw our best baseball against them. It certainly felt like that. It was pretty stressful. close the whole time."
The Rays got a good start from Shane McClanahan, who threw six innings and allowed just one earned run. The bullpen allowed just one run in three innings, but it might not have been the pen you are used to seeing -- Jeffrey Springs and Pete Fairbanks are hurt and Diego Castillo has been traded. Instead, it was Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Sherriff and Matt Wisler.
"The injuries can really sting a club house," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "T.he guys do a tremendous job of being good teammates. It's part of the game -- it’s stinks. All good teams find a way to weather tough storms."
Manuel Margot singled in Wander Franco with the eventual winning run.
The Rays now are home against Seattle for a three-game series. In tonight's opener (7:10 p.m. at Tropicana Field), Michael Wacha will start against Chris Flexen.