Yandy Díaz, Aaron Civale lead Rays to win over Pirates

PITTSBURGH — The Rays knew they’d have their hands full Sunday afternoon with Pirates phenom Paul Skenes on the mound.

The flame-throwing 22-year-old entered the day 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA and 53 strikeouts in his first seven Major League starts. Drafted No. 1 overall less than a year ago, Skenes has already earned a reputation for being one of the most talented pitchers in the Majors.

Skenes lived up to the hype, attacking Tampa Bay’s lineup with triple-digit fastballs and an assortment of offspeed offerings for seven innings. Yandy Díaz punched his first pitch of the game off the right-field pole for a leadoff homer, and Skenes punctuated his outing with a 101.5 mph heater to strike out Alex Jackson.

But Skenes’ day ended after seven innings, the longest outing of his young career, and Tampa Bay took advantage of his absence in the eighth. The Rays scored a pair of runs off reliever Colin Holderman, doing just enough to support excellent pitching performances in their 3-1 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.

With the game tied at 1 after seven innings, Díaz and Josh Lowe hit back-to-back singles off Holderman. Pinch-runner José Caballero scored on a sacrifice fly by Randy Arozarena, and Lowe scored on a single to left by Richie Palacios.

The victory secured a winning road trip for the Rays, who went 5-4 during their 10-day journey through Atlanta, Minnesota and Pittsburgh. It was also Tampa Bay’s first win behind starter Aaron Civale since May 3, snapping an eight-start skid.

Civale held the Pirates to three hits and a walk while striking out three and breezed through five innings on 61 pitches. The only damage he allowed came in the fourth inning, when Bryan Reynolds launched a leadoff homer to right field. Relievers Garrett Cleavinger, Kevin Kelly, Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks put up zeroes the rest of the way.