Pirates Spring Game Recap: Henry Davis Hits One of Three Homers in Win Over Rays

Henry Davis did it again. The 2021 first-overall pick belted his third home run of spring training, one of three home runs in the game for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in Port Charlotte.

Davis’ two-run home run in the third inning off of Aaron Civale extended the Pirates’ lead to 5-0. It was their third homer in as many innings against the Rays’ starter.

Henry Davis just keeps crushing homers this #SpringTraining! 🔊 pic.twitter.com/GpxB2vNlap

— MLB (@MLB) March 4, 2024

Jack Suwinski slugged his first round-tripper of spring training, a solo shot in the opening inning to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Canaan Smith-Njigba connected on a long home run to right field to give Pittsburgh two more runs.

The Rays (2-6) carved into the Pirates’ lead in the third on a Yandy Díaz RBI single. Amed Rosario added a run on a solo homer off of Paul Skenes the following inning.

Jared Triolo got the Pirates (4-6) one of those runs back in the sixth inning with a base hit to center, which plated Jake Lamb. Tampa responded in the home half of the inning on Francisco Mejía’s run-scoring single.

In the top of the ninth, Ji Hwan Bae followed Grant Koch’s double with a base hit to give the Pirates a 7-3 lead.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Henry Davis stuffed the stat sheet by going 1 for 2 with a home run, an RBI, a run and a walk.
• Jared Triolo finished the game 2 for 4 with an RBI. He’s batting .353 (6 for 17) with a .977 OPS in spring training. Alika Williams also collected a pair of hits.
• Luis Ortiz threw three solid innings for the Pirates in his start. He allowed one run on one hit, walked one and struck out three.
• Paul Skenes allowed one on on three hits — including Rosario’s home run — in two innings pitched in relief of Ortiz. The top prospect did not walk a batter and recorded three strikeouts.
• Pitching prospect Bubba Chandler threw a perfect seventh inning in his first appearance this spring.

UP NEXT

The Pittsburgh Pirates will be back at LECOM Park on Tuesday when they host the Toronto Blue Jays. Prospect Jared Jones will make his first start of spring training. The right-hander has thrown 2.2 scoreless innings this spring. Right-hander José Berríos will go for Toronto. First pitch: 1:05 ET.