Pirates play powerball against Rays
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Jack Suwinski, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Henry Davis homered as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Monday in a spring training game.
Suwinski slugged his home run of the spring, a solo shot in the opening inning, to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Canaan Smith-Njigba connected on a long home run to right field to give Pittsburgh two more runs.
Davis, the first-overall draft pick in 2021, smacked his third home run of spring training in the third inning off of Aaron Civale to extended the Pirates’ lead to 5-0. It was their third homer in as many innings against the Rays’ starter.
Starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and reliever Paul Skenes combined to give up two runs (one earned) over five innings.
In his first start of spring training, Ortiz struck out the side in the first inning and allowed one unearned run over three innings.
Skenes gave up his first hit of the spring against the first batter he faced in the fourth, a solo homer by Amed Rosario that cut the Rays’ deficit to 5-2.
The first pick in last year’s draft, Skenes allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts in two innings.
The Pirates increased their advantage to 6-2 on an RBI single by Jared Triolo in the sixth. The Pirates added another run in the ninth when Ji Hwan Bae’s single scored Grant Koch, who had doubled.
The Pirates outhit the Rays 12-6. Triolo and Alika Williams each had two hits.