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Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Brandon Lowe wins Rookie of the Month

Brandon Lowe showed just exactly why he won Rookie of the Month

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MLB: Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The day he was officially named American League Rookie of the Month for the opening month of the 2019 season, Brandon Lowe went out and proved why that was such a good decision, blasting somehow blooping a home run over the right field fence in Kansas City to break a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth inning and ensure the Rays didn’t leave Kauffman with a series loss.

The Rays now head to Baltimore for what would appear to be a winnable series but considering the Rip Van Winkle-like nap the Rays bats appear to have fallen under, maybe we shouldn’t take anything for granted.

For the three-game weekend series, the only set matchup as of now is Friday’s Tyler Glasnow (5-0, 1.75/2.68/3.13 ERA/FIP/xFIP, 1.1 fWAR) vs. Dan Straily (1-1, 6.75/8.16/7.04, -0.3) pairing.

The Rays currently sit at 20-11, a .645 winning percentage that ranks in a tie for second in all of baseball. The O’s are at the other side of the standings, with an 11-21 record, a .344 winning percentage that ranks in a tie for second worst in all of baseball. Of course, that tie is with the Royals, who the Rays got lucky to split with.

Given the hard turn the schedule takes after this series (ARZ, NYY, MIA, NYY, LAD, CLE), this series looks like a must-win if the Rays want to maintain their edge in the division throughout the month of May.

Rays News

Tweet of the Day

Speaking of which:

He totally knew what he was doing with this tweet... Well played, sir.