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Marc Topkin’s takeaways from Rays 3-1 win over Royals

On a good call by Adames and Linares, some big power by Lowe, some fine work by Morton.

Marc Topkin’s takeaways from the Rays 3-1 win over the Royals:

* Lost in the late-inning drama, Willy Adames made a good read, and third-base coach Rodney Linares a very good decision, in being aggressive to score from second base to tie the score at 1 in the fifth inning when centerfielder Billy Hamilton slipped fielding Guillermo Heredia’s blooper.

* Brandon Lowe continues to defy physics, generating more power than seems possible from his barely 5-foot-10, 185-pound frame. Thursday’s homer was his seventh, tying the much more muscular Yandy Diaz for the team lead and putting him on pace for 37 for the season.

* With the Rays’ offense still somnolent, Charlie Morton put on a classic display of a veteran starter finding ways to keep his team in a game. He stranded runners by getting strikeouts and/or soft contact, and he was efficient enough to stay in the game into the seventh inning.