Tampa Bay Rays vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates played eleven innings at Charlotte Sports Park before declaring Sunday’s spring training a tie 7-7.

The Rays scored first in the bottom of the third inning. Shawn Riggans, Adam Kennedy and Justin Ruggiano all singled to load the bases. Carl Crawford drove home the first run of the inning with a ground ball to first. Gabe Kapler then drove home Kennedy with an RBI single to left, giving Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh cut the lead in half in the sixth inning. Andrew McCutchen tripled to center lead of the inning. McCutchen then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Tabata to pull the Pirates within a run of the lead.

The Pirates took the lead in the seventh inning. Andy LaRoche tied the game with a solo home run to left field. Brian Bixler followed with a triple to center. Bixler later scored on a ground ball by Jason Jaramillo to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.

Tampa Bay tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning on a solo home run by Reid Brignac.

The Rays posted a big inning in the eighth to take the lead, striking for three runs in the inning. Ray Sadler led off the inning with a double to right field. Sadler then moved closer to home by stealing third. Eliot Johnson followed with an RBI single to score Sadler. Johnson then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Willy Aybar drove Johnson home with a single to third. Aybar later scored on an RBI double by Tim Beckham to give the Rays a 7-3 lead.

The Pirates tied the game in the eighth inning courtesy of two long balls. Pedro Alvarez delivered a three run homer to bring the Bucs within a run of the lead. The very next batter Garrett Jones belted a solo home run to tie the game.

The clubs dueled through the tenth and eleventh innings without a run crossing the plate and the game was declared a tie.

For more photos from the game, visit by Rays/Pirates game gallery.