The Rays returned Port Charlotte and logged their first home victory of the spring today against the Pirates, 4-3. With today’s win, Tampa Bay improved it’s record to 3-6-1 on the spring, in a game that marked the return of Evan Longoria to the lineup, as well as the debut of Luke Scott. And though Longoria had a throwing error, he also went 1-1 with a run scored, and an RBI on a sac fly that drove home Sam Fuld. Scott went 2-0 on the day.
The real story was the stellar performance by Jeff Niemann, who’s now done well in all of his starts so far this spring. After the royal, three runs given up on 58 pitches, including only 27 strikes on the night, crapfest that was Wade Davis’ performance last night against the Red Sox, it’s starting to become obvious who may be earning the coveted starting spot on the rotation come opening day. Niemann went three solid innings, and gave up no runs on no hits or walks, and struck out two.
Rodney and Peralta came on in relief of Niemann, and gave up a run a piece in the fourth and fifth innings (respectively), but the Rays wouldn’t give up another hit or run until the ninth inning when Josh Lueke gave up a dinger that almost lost the game for Tampa Bay. Howell, McGee, and Gomes performed extremely well in the sixth through eighth innings, each retiring the batters they faced in order.
The Rays scored four runs on 11 hits, and won the game in walk-off fashion thanks to a two RBI, game winning, hit off the bat of Chris Gimenez in the ninth. Otherwise, both Longoria and Brignac, who himself had a big day at the plate, drove in the other two runs. Brignac is also doing his part to earn a spot on the roster this spring. Reid went two for three with an RBI. His RBI was impressive because he was able to pull the ball to right, something that seemingly eluded him last season.
To be honest, driving in only four on 11 hits is a bit worrisome. Tampa Bay had ample opportunities to drive home base-runners in scoring position in the fifth through eighth innings. Yet, they couldn’t convert those opportunities into runs. Nevertheless, the Rays did just enough to put another tally mark in the win column, which is good enough for me.
Tampa Bay takes on, you guessed it, the Twins AGAIN tomorrow at 1:05 PM. The Evan Longoria video (below) comes courtesy of Marc Topkin and the Tampa Bay Times.
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