Lowe, Rays Batter Pirates Friday

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Josh Lowe homered twice, including a three-run blast in the sixth that broke open a close game, and the Tampa Bay Rays breezed past tye Pittsburgh Pirates 10-3 on Friday night. Lowe hit a solo shot to right off Luis Ortiz in the third inning and went deep again with two aboard in the sixth to give the Rays a rare breather amid a string of tight finishes. Ben Rortvedt added three hits, including a three-run homer in the ninth. Jose Siri also had three hits and made a pair of spectacular catches in center. He chased down a line drive to left-center by Nick Gonzales leading off the second and ended the game by robbing Jack Suwinski of extra bases with a leaping grab at the wall. Bryan Reynolds hit his 11th homer of the season to push his hitting streak to a career-best 18 games. The left fielder is hitting .342 in June. Suwinski had an RBI double for Pittsburgh and Ke’Bryan Hayes added an RBI single. Pittsburgh managed just five hits and only two over the final five innings. Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3) gave up a run in the first 1 2/3 innings before giving way to Ortiz. The right-hander who had hoped to make the starting rotation out of spring training has thrived in a long relief role this season but struggled on a steamy night with temperatures in the mid-90s. Tampa touched Ortiz for six runs on 10 hits in four innings. He failed to retire the Rays in order once and things got out of hand in the sixth. The loss came on a day Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said he’s given general manager Ben Cherington the green light to seek trades that will help an offense that has kept the Pirates from emerging from a crowded if underwhelming NL Central pack.