ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz homered as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-4 on Saturday.
The Rays had dropped two consecutive games, getting one run and 10 singles in 18 innings over the stretch.
“The offense came out hot today and put some runs on the board,” Rays starter Corey Kluber said. “Turned into a win there I think we probably needed really badly.”
Tampa Bay is 3-6 since the All-Star break.
Kluber (7-6) allowed four runs and eight hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts in six innings and improved to 2-0 in two career starts against Cleveland, where he won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014 and 2017.
“You know what, the guy knows how to pitch,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “He’s got a little different, the way he attacks hitters than he used to, but he can manipulate the ball with the best of them.”
Pete Fairbanks struck out José Ramírez on three pitches with two on and two outs in the ninth to get his second save.
Andrés Giménez homered for the Guardians, who are 5-5 on an 11-game road trip.
Just as the game was ending, the Rays announced that they acquired ourfielder David Peralta from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league catcher Christian Cerda.
Tampa Bay has 16 players on the injured list, including outfielders Manuel Margot (right patellar tendon strain), Harold Ramirez (right thumb fracture) and Kevin Kiermaier, who is out for the year following left hip surgery.
Lowe connected on a two-run homer in the first and René Pinto had a second-inning RBI double off Zach Plesac (2-9) as Tampa Bay took a 3-0 lead.
Díaz’s two-run shot in the fifth put the Rays ahead 5-1.
Brett Phillips, who had seven hits in his previous 89 at-bats, had an RBI single…