Brandon Lowe homered and drove in all six runs as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday in Dunedin, but the Philadelphia Phillies scored in six different innings in Port Charlotte, ending Tampa Bay's winning streak at five game by taking an 11-3 decision at Charlotte Sports Park.
Lowe finished with a triple shy of the cycle and with four hits on the afternoon, including an RBI single in the third that got the Rays on the scoreboard after Justin Smoak and Brandon Drury each homered to give the Blue Jays their three-run advantage. A two-run double in the top of the fifth off Thomas Pannone tied the game, and after Bo Bichette gave Toronto the lead back with a solo shot off Curtis Taylor in the bottom of the sixth, Lowe blasted a three-run homer, his first of the spring, off Yennsy Diaz in the next half-inning, giving the Rays the lead for good.
Max Pentecost's solo homer off Hoby Milner in the bottom of the seventh got Toronto back to within a run, but Ian Gardeck and Ricardo Pinto each tossed a solo inning of relief each to close the door.
Meawhile in Port Charlotte, Avisail Garcia gave the Rays a 1-0 in the bottom of the first, but the second inning would prove to be Tampa Bay's undoing, as both starter Tyler Glasnow and reliever Andrew Moore had problems commanding the strike zone. Philadelphia would get two runs in the inning on bases-loaded walks to Trevor Plouffe and Lane Adams, and Jean Segura's fielder's choice gave the Phillies some breathing room.
After a sacrifice fly by Aaron Altherr in the third made it a 4-1 game, Tampa Bay tried getting back into the contest with an RBI single by Emilio Bonifacio and an RBI groundout by Christian Arroyo. However, the Rays could get no closer than 4-3 before Philadelphia began to open the lead back up, scoring the final seven runs of the game. Plouffe's RBI double in the sixth gave the Phillies an insurance run, while a wild pitch by Matt Krook an inning later made it 6-3. Dalton Moats allowed three runs in the eighth on a base hit by Mickey Moniak, a bases loaded walk to Phil Gosselin and a sacrifice fly by Malquin Canelo, and Drew Butera's tworun homer in the ninth off Mike Franco set the score.
Tampa Bay (5-5) plays it's final game before the first off-day of the Grapefruit League Sunday in Bradenton against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ryne Stanek will get the start, taking ong Mitch Keller. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05, with coverage on WDAE beginning at 11:30 with The Inside Pitch.