BOSTON — Brandon Lowe hit a pair of solo homers, Blake Snell baffled Boston’s lineup and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-1, on Sunday to take three of four from the World Series champions.
Guillermo Heredia and Yandy Díaz also hit solo shots, and Lowe added an RBI single for Tampa Bay, which at 40-24 matched its season-high at 16 games over .500. Díaz had four hits.
Snell (4-5) became the third Rays starter to hold Boston to two runs or fewer in the series after Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough.
Snell battled through two tough opening innings, allowing one run and five hits over six innings with seven strikeouts. With runners on second and third in the first, the AL Cy Young Award winner stuck out the next three batters swinging with sharp, breaking curveballs.
Boston starter Eduardo Rodríguez (6-4) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5⅔ innings with seven strikeouts.
Tampa Bay’s first four batters singled, and the Rays took a 2-0 lead on Lowe’s RBI single and Travis d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly.
Heredia homered into the Green Monster seats in the second.
Boston got the first two runners on in the opening two innings but scored just a run on Marco Hernandez’s RBI single in the second.
MILWAUKEE — Mike Moustakas launched a homer that won a new car for a fan, NL MVP Christian Yelich hit his major-league leading 24th home run on his bobblehead day and Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh for a three-game sweep.
Moustakas connected for his 20th homer off Francisco Liriano (1-1), a tiebreaking, two-run drive in the eighth inning that hit a promotional car perched above the right-center field fence. The Brewers said season ticketholder Mark Gruber was the fortunate fan. He’ll get the keys to his new SUV in a pregame presentation on June 20.
SAN DIEGO — Howie Kendrick, Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon hit consecutive home runs in a span of seven pitches off Craig Stammen (4-3) with one out in the eighth.
With the score tied at 1, Kendrick was pinch-hitting for Stephen Strasburg (7-3) when he started the homer parade with a shot to left, his 11th. Turner followed with a drive to center, his fourth, and Eaton’s homer just cleared the wall in center, his sixth.
PHILADELPHIA — Joey Votto tied the game with a two-out single in the seventh inning and Eugenio Suárez followed with the go-ahead hit as Cincinnati avoided a three-game sweep.
Bryce Harper got tangled up in a pair of plays at the plate, scoring from second on a misplayed popup but getting thrown out on an attempted steal of home.
CLEVELAND — Aaron Hicks delivered an RBI double off Oliver Pérez (1-1) with two outs as New York overcame errors in the ninth by stars Aroldis Chapman (1-1) and Didi Gregorius and avoided a sweep.
The Yankees headed home to a Subway Series matchup against the Mets after blowing a 5-0 lead in the sixth and a 6-5 advantage in the ninth,
MIAMI — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a three-run homer as Atlanta overcame a 5-1, ninth-inning deficit against Sergio Romo, and Matt Joyce delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the 12th off Adam Conley (1-6).
Atlanta (36-29) climbed seven games above .500 for the first time this year and won its seventh consecutive game in Miami, a record in the series.
NEW YORK — New York’s Noah Syndergaard (4-4) allowed one hit in seven shutout innings, and Todd Frazier homered and drove in four runs off Jeff Hoffman (1-3).
DETROIT — Minnesota’s Nelson Cruz homered for the fourth straight game and Miguel Sanó, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario also connected.
HOUSTON — Houston’s Yordan Álvarez hit a two-run homer in his major league debut, connecting off Dylan Bundy (3-7) in the fourth inning. The 21-year-old was called up from Triple-A Round Rock before the game while leading the Pacific Coast League with 23 home runs.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eloy Jiménez launched a 471-foot home run, and Reynaldo López (4-6) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as Chicago beat Kansas City.
TORONTO — Carson Kelly and Ketel Marte homered during an eight-run burst in the third inning and Arizona completed a three-game sweep.
SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles’ Walker Buehler (7-1) and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, and Max Muncy homered into McCovey Cove off Madison Bumgarner (3-6) in the first inning, then exchanged words with the San Francisco ace as he rounded the bases.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Edwin Encarnación hit two homers, including the 400th of his career, and Tom Murphy added two more.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Khris Davis homered for the first time in nearly a month as Oakland built an 8-0 lead and hung on for a four-game split.
Davis hit a two-run homer off Drew Smyly (1-5) in the third inning, his 13th home run this season but first since May 13. Davis sustained a left hip and oblique injury on May 5, tried to played through it and was out from May 22-31.
Frankie Montas (8-2) improved to 4-0 in his last seven starts, allowing three runs — two earned — and seven hits in six innings. Blake Treinen, retired Ronald Guzmán on a game-ending flyout with two on for his 14th save.