Strong Taillon, home runs lift Bucs vs. Rays
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PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Pittsburgh used the long ball on Monday to take a 5-4 win over Tampa Bay at Charlotte Sports Park.
Rays starter Blake Snell hit David Freese with a pitch leading off the fourth, then fell behind 3-1 to José Osuna, who promptly deposited Snell's next offering over the wall in left for a 2-1 lead. It was Osuna's team-leading fifth homer of the spring.
On the day Kevin Kiermaier signed a six-year, $53.5 million deal, the Rays center fielder fittingly legged out an infield hit in his first at-bat in the first inning, stole second base, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single through the infield. He finished the day 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Jordy Mercer added to the lead with a two-run homer off Snell in the fifth, putting the Pirates up 4-1.
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Snell, who will be the Rays' No. 4 starter, made his fifth appearance (fourth start) of the spring and allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three in five innings.
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When asked if he'd missed locations on the home runs, Snell smiled: "Is down the middle bad?"
Right-hander Jameson Taillon, the Pirates' No. 2 starter, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four over 4 1/3 innings.
"Overall I thought it was OK," Taillon said. "I got my pitches in, got my work in. Good and bad. Thought my delivery was kind of inconsistent. I'd nail some pitches consistently, a couple in a row. I'd lose it for a second. I'd find my way back into it.
"That's kind of the fight. You have good days and bad days. You try to just shorten the gap between good and bad. I thought I did a good job of fighting through it. Got some good work in."
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Tampa Bay tied the score in the seventh on back-to-back RBI doubles by Mallex Smith and Patrick Leonard. But the Pirates answered in their next at-bat when Osuna grounded into a force out to drive home Trace Tam Sing and give the Pirates a 5-4 lead.
Pirates Up Next: Right-hander Chad Kuhl, all but guaranteed to be the Pirates' fourth starter, will pitch for the Bucs as they host the Rays at 1:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday at LECOM Park, in a game available on MLB.TV. Right-handers A.J. Schugel and Josh Lindblom are also scheduled to pitch for Pittsburgh.
Rays Up Next: The Rays will travel to Bradenton on Tuesday afternoon for a 1:05 p.m. ET contest against the Pirates, in a game available on MLB.TV. Alex Cobb will start for the Rays and will be followed by Erasmo Ramírez and Jaime Schultz. Schultz is a candidate for the Rays' bullpen this season, particularly with Brad Boxberger being slowed by a lat problem.