Brandon Lowe leads the way as Rays regain their groove, beat White Sox

CHICAGO — There were a number of ways to take measure of the how the Rays responded to back-to-back shutouts with a season-high offensive outburst in Thursday’s 14-5 win over the White Sox.

Most, naturally, were at the plate.

Brandon Lowe snapped an 0-for-15 skid with a three-hit night, a double short of the cycle. Isaac Paredes had a career-high five RBIs. Yandy Diaz and Luke Raley had three hits each, including home runs. Josh Lowe also had three hits.

“Sometimes in baseball you’re not swinging it, and (Thursday) we came out and swung it,” Raley said. “So that’s kind of what we expect. We’ve done it for most of the year and I think that we’re going to continue to do it.”

They also responded on the mound.

Because the Rays spent nearly so much time batting in the top of the sixth inning, scoring five runs in sending 10 men to the plate, manager Kevin Cash decided that between the extended delay and the cool temperatures to not send starter Shane McClanahan back out to work the sixth, even though he had thrown only 73 pitches.

“The offense was too good; I tried walking away from Cash so he couldn’t tell me but he found me and took me out,” McClanahan said. “It was awesome to watch. They had such a good game plan, and to have them come out there and execute what they’ve been trying to do, it was fun to see.”

And because the Rays had such a big lead and wanted to save their bullpen, Raley was summoned to work the ninth, the first time the 28-year-old had pitched since his days at Highland High in Medina, Ohio.

“Pretty cool. He closed out the game and hit a home run in the same game,” McClanahan said. “Some Shohei Ohtani stuff.”

The Rays, after dropping two straight to the Astros, improved to a majors-leading 21-5 with the win. And they boosted their MLB-leading home run total to 51 after going three games without a long ball following their season-opening record of 22 with.

Having just about everyone in the lineup contribute, after their scoreless streak extended to 20 innings following a quiet first against White Sox ace Dylan Cease, made it more rewarding.

“We needed it because you don’t want it to continue to roll over and get (guys) frustrated,” Cash said. “It’s very easy to get frustrated and it’s easy to lose confidence sometimes in this game but impressive the guys did not do that and everybody contributed again.”

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They were especially encouraged by the performance of Brandon Lowe, who had struck out 10 times during his 15-at-bat hitless streak.

Lowe had a triple, home run and a two-run single (capping a 10-pitch at-bat) in his first three times up, leaving him just a double shy of joining B.J. Upton (2009) and Evan Longoria (2017) as the only Rays to hit for the cycle. Lowe was well aware of the potential history, but walked his fourth time up, then was called out on strikes on a questionable pitch.

“As soon as I hit the single I feel like someone was trying to talk about it quietly (in the dugout) and was not quiet,” Lowe said. “I knew what was happening. It’s a lie to tell you that you don’t know what’s going on if you’re playing. So it was cool to get the opportunity and have the chance at the cycle and hope to get another chance at it and actually get the cycle that time.”

After McClanahan, who improved to 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA in allowing two runs and striking out five, worked his five, former White Sox reliever Zack Burdi gave the Rays two innings and Rule 5 reliever Kevin Kelly one.

Cash didn’t want to use another pitcher, and leading by 10 in the ninth as they were, he had the option to use a position player. Catcher Christian Bethancourt has pitched before, but Cash didn’t want to use him since he’d been sitting on the bench the whole game. Instead he kind of asked Raley.

“I volunteered him after his home run,” Cash said. “I figured he’d be in a good mood.”

Raley — acknowledging later that “pitching is a little scary” — said he was willing to try.

“I said, ‘I’ll do whatever you want me to do.’ He’s like, ‘Can you throw strikes?’ I said, “I don’t know. I haven’t been on the mound since I was in high school.’ So yeah, I’m just glad I was able to go out and throw strikes and save our pen.”

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