Rays hold off Dodgers rally to level World Series

Brandon Lowe and Blake Snell stepped up as the Tampa Bay Rays evened the World Series by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 2 on Wednesday.

Lowe homered twice and ace Snell starred to help the Rays bounce back from Tuesday's 8-3 defeat to the Dodgers in Arlington, Texas.

After homering off starter Tony Gonsolin in the first inning, Lowe repeated the feat off Dustin May in the fifth as the Rays took control at Globe Life Field, where Tampa Bay led 5-0.

The Dodgers – without a World Series title since 1988 – rallied through Will Smith's sixth-inning home run and National League Championship Series (NLCS) MVP Corey Seager's homer in the eighth but the Rays held on.

Lowe became the second player in MLB history to have a multi-homer game in the World Series after entering the contest with a sub-.200 batting average in the postseason, following the Baltimore Orioles' Eddie Murray, according to Stats Perform.

Tampa Bay's Lowe and Joey Wendle also became the first set of team-mates in World Series history to drive in three-plus runs each to account for all of their team's runs in a game.

Snell set the tone for the Rays, boasting eight-plus strikeouts and no hits allowed through four innings, following in the footsteps of Sandy Koufax in 1963.

The Rays pitcher's dream of a no-hitter was dashed in the fifth – walking Kike Hernandez and serving up a home run to Chris Taylor. After a walk to Dodgers star Mookie Betts and a Seager single, Snell departed after 4.2 innings, two hits, two runs, one homer and nine strikeouts.

In his absence, the Dodgers' Smith connected on Nick Anderson's pitch for a home run in the sixth before Seager went long off Pete Fairbanks, however, the Rays withstood the fightback.

The teams will return for Game 3 on Friday, with the Dodgers sending Walker Buehler to the mound as the Rays – eyeing their first World Series crown – start Charlie Morton.