Tampa Bay Rays defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 – MLB Spring Training
Tampa Bay Rays defeated Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 at the Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida on Wednesday, March 28 in their Grapefruit League encounter of the 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training Session.
Number 14, David Price will be very pleased with the way he conducted himself on Wednesday. The starter had his best and longest outing of this spring as he tossed seven strong innings to help the Rays take control of things.
Allowing just two runs and six hits with five strikeouts and two walks, Price made the most of available opportunities.
Luke Scott had a great time on the plate, hitting a two run home run in Rays’ stunning win over the Pirates. Scott had three RBI’s as he went 2 for 4. Elliot Johnson also made a useful contribution with the bat, adding a pair of doubles that included a two
run double to help the Rays take 4-0 lead.
Price’s counterpart Charlie Morton gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings as he fought with his hip injury.
"It's a gray area," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I think he's making progress. I think we saw him very clean and efficient early. Then I think you saw the one inning fatigued him. He wasn't as sharp. We didn't get him to where we wanted to on his
pitch count, as far as getting him closer to 90. But I thought he made some progress. We just have some more work to do. We'll continue to have that discussion."
The Rays have looked completely out of sorts since the start of 2012 Spring Training. With just 8 wins in their 23 spring games, it seems Joe Maddon and his men will have to do some serious work to bring consistency into their game play. Rays’ win on Wednesday
is of significant importance as it can provide them with the winning momentum going into the regular season.
While lifting the 2012 World Series trophy may not be possible for the Rays, they can certainly make themselves proud by making it to the post season. It will be interesting to see if the Rays can turn the tables after the Opening Day.
Tags: