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Brandon Lowe’s error stirs memories of Rays’ 2013 playoff miscue

Lowe-Meadows in Game 1 Friday, Wil Myers-Desmond Jennings in a 2013 Game 1
 
Rays right fielder Austin Meadows (17), left, and second baseman Brandon Lowe (8) chase down the ball on Yuli Gurriel's pop-up in the fifth inning of Tampa Bay's 6-2 loss at Houston Friday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Rays right fielder Austin Meadows (17), left, and second baseman Brandon Lowe (8) chase down the ball on Yuli Gurriel's pop-up in the fifth inning of Tampa Bay's 6-2 loss at Houston Friday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
Published Oct. 5, 2019|Updated Oct. 5, 2019

HOUSTON — The Rays were doing okay in the division series opener on the road when a fly ball went up and somehow in the cacophony from the roaring crowd dropped between two of their players, altering the momentum of the game, and maybe the series.

That was the scene in Boston in 2013, the last time the Rays were in the playoffs, when rookie outfielder Wil Myers and centerfielder Desmond Jennings had a failure to communicate, and the Red Sox rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 12-2 Game 1 win.

And that wasn’t different from the scene Friday when Rays rookie second baseman Brandon Lowe and right fielder Austin Meadows teamed up to let a Yuli Gurriel pop-up drop and expand Houston’s lead from 2-0 to 4-0 in what ended up a 6-2 final.

Both said they should have made the play. Neither had a good explanation why no one did.

“It was just kind of one of those in-betweeners,’’ Meadows said. “There wasn’t really much communication. And even if there was it gets very, very loud out there so it’s kind of tough to hear anything in general. So you just have to kind of look at each other and kind of see where each other is at to hopefully not run into each other.’’

Lowe said he wasn’t sure why he ended up in position for the ball to bounce off his glove.

“Before the pitch (and) when it was in the air I took a look to see where Austin was and saw this was going to be kind of (a) no-man’s-land kind of play,’’ Lowe said. “I knew I probably had one of the best shots to make the play and last minute I didn’t make the play. It’s completely on me. It’s not on anyone else. ….

“It is what it is, it did happen, and we have to learn from it. … It gets loud. It’s hard to communicate when I can’t even yell at Willy (Adames, the shortstop) standing six feet away from me.’’

The Rays lost that 2013 opener and the next game in Boston, and the series in four. Game 2 of this series is Saturday night.