Rays Muscle Up Against Mets as Marcus Stroman Loses Again

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Manuel Margot, Willy Adames and Brandon Lowe homered off Marcus Stroman, leading the Tampa Bay Rays over the Mets, 7-1, on Sunday for a three-game sweep.

Two-run homers by Margot in the fourth and by Adames in the fifth built a 4-0 lead, and Lowe led off the sixth with his seventh home run this season.

“It’s a good feeling to show some offense, especially the way we’ve been going the last week or so,” said Adames, who is hitting .198. “When your team starts hitting like this it’s contagious. It’s good to know things are going in the right direction.”

Ji-man Choi had three hits, including an eighth-inning R.B.I. double, in his first game after recovering from arthroscopic right knee surgery.

Josh Fleming (3-3) allowed up one hit in five scoreless innings, an infield single by Jeff McNeil leading off the game. Fleming left after 53 pitches and retiring his last nine batters.

“It was tough, but I get it,” he said. “I’m not going to sit there and argue my point. That’s the way it works for us. If we can throw this well and give the ball to the bullpen, I get it.”

Diego Castillo, Ryan Thompson, Collin McHugh and Cody Reed finished a two-hitter.

Patrick Mazeika, who replaced McNeil, homered off Diego Castillo in the sixth for his first major league hit, in his sixth big league at-bat.

Stroman (3-4) dropped to 0-4 in his last five starts. He allowed five runs and six hits in six innings as his ERA rose from 2.01 to 2.72.

The three homers off Stroman matched the total he gave up in his first seven starts.

“I didn’t have it today,” he said. “I threw a pitches that maybe flattened out a bit. I made a few mistakes and they made me pay for them.”

Conforto and McNeil Will be Evaluated

Michael Conforto left in the middle of the first inning after grounding into a double play and Jeff McNeil came out for a pinch-hitter in the third inning.

Both players were reported to have hamstring issues.

“Hamstring issues are no joke,” Mets Manager Luis Rojas said. “We’re going to get some tests, MRIs. When you’re talking about hamstrings you get concerned. We are going to wait for the results and then figure out a timeline.”

Yankees Fail to Close Out Sweep of Orioles

Maikel Franco homered and drove in three runs, rookie Bruce Zimmermann came out of the bullpen to hold down the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles avoided a three-game sweep by rallying to win, 10-6, Sunday.

“It was a great comeback from our guys,” Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde said. “We had a lot of tough losses here in the last week to two weeks.”

Aaron Judge homered for the third straight game and went 6 for 10 with four home runs and five R.B.I. in the series.

But Jordan Montgomery failed to hold leads of 4-0 in the first inning and 5-2 in the third, and the Yankees dropped to 1-6 this season when trying to complete a series sweep.

“He had a hard time putting some guys away,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought they had some good at-bats off him. A couple of times he tried to show them the fastball late in the count, two strikes, he didn’t get it where he wanted to. There were some mistakes with that.”

Baltimore is 6-15 at Camden Yards, the worst home record in the major leagues.

Montgomery gave up five runs and six hits in three innings, raising his ERA to 4.75. He had allowed two runs over 11 innings in two previous starts against the Orioles this season.

“I am going to have to a look at it tomorrow and make it better,” Montgomery said. “A lot of things could have gone differently today.”

Yankees Have Another Positive Test

The Yankees had another positive coronavirus test, this one involving a staff member, Manager Aaron Boone said before the game. Boone did not identify the staff member, saying he was part of the team’s support staff. The Yankees have had nine total positives within the traveling party since Monday — three coaches, five staffers and shortstop Gleyber Torres.