Brothers Josh and Nathaniel Lowe meet on field but not yet in a game
ST. PETERSBURG — The first matchup between the Brothers Lowe will have to wait until Saturday.
Josh Lowe wasn’t in the Rays’ lineup for Friday’s game. Manager Kevin Cash said he was “sensitive” to the situation but went with right-handed hitters vs. Texas lefty Andrew Heaney. Older brother Nathaniel started as usual for Texas but didn’t do much, going 0-for-3 with a walk.
So for the first day of the three-game series, the brothers and their parents, Wendy and David, had to settle for being together on the Tropicana Field turf.
“It’s just an awesome moment to be here on the field with my parents, my brother,” Josh said before the game. “It’s something we’ve dreamed about since being little kids, to be on a major-league field. We never knew we’d be on the same major-league field. ... We’re really happy this weekend.”
Added Nathaniel, who is 2½ years older, “It’s a real blessing.”
The two joked about Nathaniel picking up a hefty dinner tab for the family on Thursday, traded jabs about whose team was better and insisted there was no fraternal wager on who had the better series.
“Or nothing I can tell you about,” Nathaniel said.
Wendy — calling it “a momentous weekend” that will produce “happy tears” — and David even dressed for the occasion.
Wendy was more colorful, wearing a custom jersey with “Lowe” on the front, the right half in Rangers blue and the left in Rays white. The back also was split, with “LOWE” across the top in the different team fonts and the team logos and boys’ first names and numbers below. She also wore custom sneakers, one in each team’s color, with the boys’ names and numbers, and a special hat.
To get her cool gear, Wendy followed the lead of another mom of pro athletes, Donna Kelce, whose sons Jason and Travis played against each other in the Super Bowl. Two cousins ordered it for Wendy from the custom company Passion For Ezra.
David wore a gray polo with both team logos on the front made by a company, Willow Stitch, owned by Rays infielder Taylor Walls’ mother-in-law.
Josh is expected to be in the lineup Saturday when Texas starts right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.
Fairbanks progressing
Closer Pete Fairbanks, out since May 28 with left hip inflammation, faced hitters in live batting practice at the Florida Complex League base in Sarasota and “threw really, really well,” Cash said.
Fairbanks, sporting a black eye he said was the result of “a little accident” playing with his son, is likely to make at least one more rehab appearance.
The Rays want to be sure Fairbanks, who was out earlier with a forearm issue, is good to go when he rejoins the bullpen, which has been improved of late.
“If we can kind of bubble-wrap Pete and keep him healthy,” Cash said, “that’s just going to make it that much better.”
Reliever Zack Littell, out since May 24 with shoulder fatigue, has had two rough rehab outings at Triple-A Durham (allowing three hits and four walks while getting three outs total) and is likely to make several more.
Miscellany
The Rays improved to 12-0 in series openers at home, the longest such streak to open a season since the 2013 Tigers were 13-0. … The Rays stole three more bases, extending their streak without being caught to 34. ... Randy Arozarena said he appreciated the additional support from the expanded Randy Land area, with the added second section of another 362 seats also sold out. ... There was an 8-minute delay in the middle of the first inning due to a medical emergency in the seats near the Rays dugout, with the fan taken to a stretcher on the field and then transported to a hospital. … Radio broadcaster Andy Freed read the famous Lou Gehrig speech as part of a pregame presentation that included a donation to the ALS Association Florida Chapter.
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