Chandler shines bright in Pirates win over Rays; Cruz’s impressive breaks tie

This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com.

The Tampa Bay Rays entered Friday’s game with a six-game win streak, but the Pittsburgh Pirates, as has been the case since dropping the first two games of the season, refused to lose a second straight game.

Bubba Chandler pitched a gem and Oneil Cruz hit a big home run to lift the Pirates (12-8) to a 5-1 win over the Rays (11-8) at PNC Park.

Scoring Plays

Bottom 2nd, 1-0 PIT: Marcell Ozuna singled, advanced to second and scored on Spencer Horwitz’s double into the right field corner off Nick Martinez (0-1).

Top 6th, 1-1: Junior Caminero evened the score with an RBI single off Bubba Chandler with two outs. Chandler Simpson, who scored on the play, singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

Bottom 6th, 3-1 PIT: The Pirates took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning when Oneil Cruz lined a two-run home run off over the Clemente Wall in right field.

Bottom 8th, 5-1 PIT: padded the lead with a two-run double off the wall in right-center field against Yoendrys Gómez.