by Steve Carney
The Tampa Bay Rays used another early offensive output to earn their fifth Grapefruit League win in six games, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 Wednesday at McKechnie Field in Bradenton.
Tampa Bay started their flurry in the second inning, as Luke Scott started with a one-out single. Kelly Johnson followed with a single of his own, and Jose Molina's single, misplayed by Brad Hawpe in right field, allowed Scott to score and each base runner to move up a base.
A ground out by James Loney plated Johnson for a 2-0 lead, and when Sean Rodriguez's popup in the infield was misplayed by Pedro Alvarez into a three-base error, Molina came home to make it 3-0.
A wild pitch by starter A.J. Burnett allowed Rodriguez to score the fourth run of the inning.
Tampa Bay added a fifth run an inning later, as Matt Joyce singled with one out, and scored two batters later on an RBI double by Scott.
The Rays padded their lead again in the fifth, as Desmond Jennings drew a leadoff walk from reliever Gerrit Cole, stole both second and third base, and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Yunel Escobar.
Pittsburgh finally got on the board in the sixth, as Jose Tabata doubled off Alex Torres to lead off the inning. He moved to third on a fly out by Ivan DeJesus Jr., and scored two batters later thanks to a single by Matt Hague.
Tampa Bay added two more runs in the seventh. Tim Beckham doubled to lead off the frame, and moved to third on a single by Rich Thompson. An RBI groundout by Jason Bourgeois brought in Beckham, and after Thompson moved to third on an errant pickoff throw, Hak-Ju Lee chopped one over the head of the drawn in third baseman and into left field to make it 8-1.
An RBI single by Alex Presley in the bottom of the eighth set the score at 8-2.
Rays starter Jeff Niemann threw just 11 pitches in his single inning of work, getting three ground ball outs. Jeremy Hellickson then worked the next inning and two-thirds, and allowed three hits, but no runs and struck out two.
Tampa Bay will return to Port Charlotte and prepare to welcome in the Detroit Tigers Thursday. Matt Moore will get the start, taking on Anibal Sanchez. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05.
