Rays Miss a Series Sweep

With a swing and a miss, the Tampa Bay Rays fell 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Similar to its previous series against the Colorado Rockies, the Rays won two of three games in the series, despite the final-game loss.

Past Series

Having only one previous loss under its belt, Tampa was favored to win under the hot Florida sun. The Pirates have started the season shaky, only winning their second game of the season. The rest of their series games against Tampa were losses. It was looking like it was leaving the Sunshine State with only one win.

The first game of the series against Pittsburgh was a near shutout with a final of 6-1. The second game was a true shutout, 7-0. on April 1. On Wednesday afternoon, the Pirates ran with an early one-point advantage in the second inning. They continued to hold the lead for the rest of the game.

Key Moments

Jared Triolo walked and was able to find home plate later in the second after Adam Frazier‘s bat connected with the ball. The run put Pittsburgh on the scoreboard first. Oneil Cruz extended the Pirates’ lead in the fifth by slamming a 87 mph ball into a solo home run.

Tampa finally put itself on the board in the sixth inning. Brandon Lowe grounded out to second and left Jonny Deluca to find home. Taylor Walls found his way around the bases in what started with a walk in the eighth inning to give the Rays an extra point.

Paul Skenes pitched for the Pirates in the first seven innings. He struck out six to earn his first victory of the season. Tampa rotated all five of their pitchers for the game. Ryan Pepiot was at center mound for the first five innings. Pepiot allowed two runs on five hits and walked three.

Up Next

Tampa will travel to Texas to matchup against the Rangers on April 4.