RAYS WIN IN A BEAN BALL CONTEST AGAINST THE PIRATES

TAMPA BAY 10, PITTSBURGH 4

WHEN: 1:05 PM ET, Sunday, March 3, 2019
WHERE: LECOM Park, Bradenton, Florida
TEMPERATURE: 82°
UMPIRES: Home - Bill Welke, 1B - Chad Fairchild, 2B - Ryan Additon, 3B - Ramon De Jesus
ATTENDANCE: 6013

At 6-foot-10, Aaron Slegers definitely stands out among the crowd of pitchers hoping to win the fifth slot in the Pirates' rotation this spring. He’s hoping a fresh start and a new direction will help him stand out in others ways, too.

The right-hander allowed three runs on three hits in Sunday’s 10-4 loss to the Rays at LECOM Park. After a clean seventh inning, Slegers put himself into a jam in the eighth. A pair of slap singles and a hit batter loaded the bases for Dalton Kelly, who doubled off the top of the wall in left.

The 26-year-old righty, who had a 42.4 percent ground-ball rate the past two seasons, has introduced a new breaking ball to complement his sinker/slider combination this spring. If all goes well, he would be able to use it as a swing-and-miss pitch in two-strike counts to try to improve on his career 4.66 Ks per nine innings.

Slegers, who had been with the Minnesota organization for his entire pro career, spent the past two years bouncing between its big league club and its Triple-A affiliate in Rochester. In eight Major League appearances -- including five starts -- over the past two seasons, Slegers went 1-2 with a 5.90 ERA. He also battled shoulder injuries that cost him more than two months last season. He was designated for assignment by Minnesota in January to clear room on the 40-man roster after the Twins signed Nelson Cruz. The Pirates claimed him off waivers with the hopes that he could find enough consistency in his delivery to become an effective starter.

PABLO’S PAYBACK

Bucs center fielder Pablo Reyes found the ideal way to get a modicum of revenge after taking a fastball off the shoulder blade in the second inning. In his at-bat after being hit by a pitch from Oliver Drake, Reyes turned on an inside fastball from Rays reliever Jalen Beeks, sending it into the seats in left field for his second home run of the spring.

“He was up there with bad intentions to swing the bat and get things done,” Hurdle said. “Obviously they got his attention with that first at-bat.”

On a day when tempers flared over four hit batters, prompting a warning to pitchers for both teams, Reyes didn’t think there was any intention by Drake.

“I think he was trying to throw inside and he missed,” Reyes said.

MUSGROVE PITCHES SIM GAME

Starter Joe Musgrove pitched two innings of a simulated game at the Pirates’ practice facility on Sunday. Starling Marte, Adam Frazier and Erik Gonzalez were among the big league hitters who saw action in that game.

UP NEXT

The Pirates will get their first off day of the spring on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday against the Orioles in Sarasota at 1:05 p.m. ET. Chris Archer will make his spring debut, with Steven Brault, Michael Feliz, Tyler Lyons and Keone Kela scheduled to pitch in relief.

SCORING SUMMARY

INNING				TB	PIT
Rays		1st	Wendle homered to left.	1		0
Rays		1st	García singled to center, Adames scored, Choi to second.	2		0
Rays		1st	Zunino doubled to left, Choi scored and García scored, Zunino thrown out at third.	4		0
Rays		4th	García homered to left, Adames scored and Choi scored.	7		0
Pirates		4th	P. Reyes homered to left center.	7		1
Pirates		7th	Moran hit sacrifice fly to right, Tucker scored, Hayes to third.	7		2
Rays		8th	Kelly doubled to left, Wong scored and Bonifacio scored, Palacios to third.	9		2
Rays		8th	Gomez grounded out to third, Palacios scored.	10		2
Pirates		9th	Valerio grounded into fielder's choice to third, Kelley scored on throwing error by second baseman Bonifacio and Kelley scored o	10		3
Pirates		9th	Craig singled to left, Tucker scored and Valerio scored.	10		4

FINAL SCORING SUMMARY

FINAL	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay	4	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	10	9	1
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	4	7	0

TAMPA BAY

HITTERS	POS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG
Joey Wendle	2B	2	1	1	1	0	0	2	.167
Emilio Bonifacio	PH-2B	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	.417
Willy Adames	SS	2	3	0	0	1	1	2	.143
Jermaine Palacios	SS	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ji-Man Choi	1B	1	2	0	0	2	0	2	.250
Dalton Kelly	1B	1	0	1	2	1	0	0	1.000
Avisail Garcia	DH	4	1	2	4	0	0	2	.273
Moises Gomez	PH-DH	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	.167
Kevin Kiermaier	CF	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.182
Andrew Velazquez	CF	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	.267
Mike Zunino	C	2	0	1	2	1	0	1	.214
Ricardo Pinto	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Christian Arroyo	3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.167
Michael Brosseau	3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.300
Guillermo Heredia	RF	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	.267
Nathan Lukes	RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jake Smolinski	LF	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	.333
Kean Wong	LF	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	.222
TOTALS		35	10	9	10	8	5	19
BATTING
2B - Dalton Kelly (1), Mike Zunino (1), Jake Smolinski (1)
HR - Joey Wendle (1), Avisail Garcia (1)
TB - Joey Wendle 4, Emilio Bonifacio, Dalton Kelly 2, Avisail Garcia 5, Kevin Kiermaier, Mike Zunino 2, Jake Smolinski 2, Kean Wong
RBI - Joey Wendle (1), Dalton Kelly 2 (2), Avisail Garcia 4 (5), Moises Gomez (1), Mike Zunino 2 (3)
2-OUT RBI - Avisail Garcia 3 (4)
RUNNERS LEFT IN SCORING POSITION, 2 OUT - Emilio Bonifacio (1), Ji-Man Choi 2 (3), Ricardo Pinto (1), Guillermo Heredia (2)
TEAM LOB - 8
BASERUNNING
SB - Kevin Kiermaier (2, 2nd off Holmes/Stallings)
FIELDING
E - Emilio Bonifacio (2)

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
Ryne Stanek (W 1-0)	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	8.10
Oliver Drake	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Jalen Beeks	2.0	4	1	1	1	3	1	9.00
Jake Faria	3.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	2.70
Colin Poche	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2.45
Casey Sadler	1.0	2	2	1	1	0	0	5.06
HBP - Jung Ho Kang (by Stanek), Pablo Reyes (by Drake)
PITCHES-STRIKES - Ryne Stanek 5-5, Oliver Drake 1-1, Jalen Beeks 9-9, Jake Faria 6-6, Colin Poche 3-3, Casey Sadler 3-3
GROUND BALLS-FLY BALLS - Ryne Stanek 1-2, Oliver Drake 1-1, Jalen Beeks 2-1, Jake Faria 5-3, Colin Poche 0-0, Casey Sadler 1-2
BATTERS FACED - Ryne Stanek 5, Oliver Drake 4, Jalen Beeks 11, Jake Faria 11, Colin Poche 4, Casey Sadler 6

PITTSBURGH

HITTERS	POS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG
Kevin Newman	SS	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	.273
Cole Tucker	SS	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	.222
Jung Ho Kang	3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	.250
Ke'Bryan Hayes	3B	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.417
Colin Moran	DH	3	0	0	1	0	2	2	.091
Adrian Valerio	PH-DH	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Francisco Cervelli	1B	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.100
Will Craig	1B	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	.357
Patrick Kivlehan	LF	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.312
Bralin Jackson	LF	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Jose Osuna	RF	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.133
Bryan Reynolds	RF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.200
Pablo Reyes	CF	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	.333
J.B. Shuck	CF	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.231
Kevin Kramer	2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.125
Alfredo Reyes	2B	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	.091
Jacob Stallings	C	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.200
Christian Kelley	C	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.125
TOTALS		33	4	7	3	5	8	18
BATTING
2B - Ke'Bryan Hayes (3)
HR - Pablo Reyes (2)
TB - Kevin Newman 2, Cole Tucker, Ke'Bryan Hayes 2, Will Craig, Pablo Reyes 4, Jacob Stallings
RBI - Colin Moran (1), Will Craig (2), Pablo Reyes (2)
2-OUT RBI - Will Craig (2)
RUNNERS LEFT IN SCORING POSITION, 2 OUT - Jung Ho Kang (1), Will Craig (2), Patrick Kivlehan (3), Jacob Stallings (1)
SF - Colin Moran (1)
TEAM LOB - 10
FIELDING
OUTFIELD ASSISTS - Patrick Kivlehan (Zunino at 3rd)

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
Mitch Keller (L 0-1)	1.0	3	4	4	2	0	1	27.00
Elvis Escobar	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0.00
Clay Holmes	1.2	0	2	2	3	1	0	4.50
Brandon Waddell	0.1	2	1	1	0	0	1	6.75
Kyle Crick	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4.50
Nick Burdi	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3.00
Aaron Slegers	2.0	3	3	3	0	1	0	4.50
Geoff Hartlieb	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.60
HBP - Willy Adames (by Holmes), Jermaine Palacios (by Slegers)
PITCHES-STRIKES - Mitch Keller 3-3, Elvis Escobar 3-3, Clay Holmes 5-5, Brandon Waddell 1-1, Kyle Crick 9-9, Nick Burdi 0-0, Aaron Slegers 3-3, Geoff Hartlieb 3-3
GROUND BALLS-FLY BALLS - Mitch Keller 1-1, Elvis Escobar 2-0, Clay Holmes 1-2, Brandon Waddell 1-0, Kyle Crick 2-0, Nick Burdi 2-1, Aaron Slegers 3-1, Geoff Hartlieb 2-0
BATTERS FACED - Mitch Keller 7, Elvis Escobar 5, Clay Holmes 9, Brandon Waddell 3, Kyle Crick 4, Nick Burdi 4, Aaron Slegers 10, Geoff Hartlieb 3
INHERITED RUNNERS-SCORED - Brandon Waddell 2-2