Devil Rays defeat Pirates, end 13-game losing streak
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were happy to have any win, even in spring training. Tampa Bay ended a 13-game losing streak – the majors’ longest spring training skid in nine years – with an 8-3 victory Friday over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Tampa Bay had the longest spring training slide since Montreal lost 14 in a row in 1998.
James Shields, the Devil Rays’ No. 2 starter, gave up two runs and eight hits in five innings, struck out four and walked none. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first.
“We’re out there trying to get better every day,” he said. “Our record hasn’t shown that we’ve gotten any better.”
Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny allowed two runs and five hits in four innings, and Kevin Gryboski gave up four runs – three earned – and two hits in the eighth.
Pittsburgh’s Don Kelly hit his first spring training homer, a ninth-inning drive off Juan Salas.
Notes: Akinori Iwamura’s sixth-inning double was his second hit of spring training. He’s batting .087 (2-for-23). … Union head Don Fehr met with the Devil Rays players before the game to discuss the five-year agreement reached with owners in October. … The Devil Rays will wear a 10th-season anniversary patch on their right shoulders this season.