Shane Baz continued the trend of strong Tampa Bay starting pitching, Brandon Lowe homered and drove in three, and the host Rays spoiled the major league debut of Pittsburgh prospect Thomas Harrington in a 7-0 thumping of the Pirates on Tuesday night.
A 2017 first-round draft pick by the Pirates, Baz (1-0) fired six scoreless innings in his initial 2025 start. Using 96 pitches, the power right-hander allowed seven hits and fanned a career-high 10, including the side in his final frame.
Mason Englert (two innings) and Mason Montgomery closed out the shutout as Rays pitchers struck out 15 without a walk.
Lowe was 3-for-4 with a walk while Kameron Misner had a hit and two RBIs.
After a 4-for-4 effort in just his second career game on Monday, Jake Mangum had two hits and moved his streak to 6-for-6 and reaching base seven straight plate appearances before grounding out to the mound in the fourth inning. He finished 3-for-4 with a double, two runs, two RBIs and a stolen base.
Tampa Bay improved to 10-1 in its last 11 meetings with the Pirates.
Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds each had two of Pittsburgh’s nine total hits — all singles.
Saddled with a pitching shortage after a four-game series in Miami and a brief start by Carmen Mlodzinski in Monday’s opener, the Pirates called up the 23-year-old Harrington, their No. 3 prospect and No. 78 overall according to MLB Pipeline.
Harrington (0-1) was hit hard over four innings, surrendering six runs on seven hits on 90 pitches. He struck out two and walked four.
During a three-run first, Mangum doubled left to score Yandy Diaz and Lowe. Misner soon followed with an RBI single up the middle for a 3-0 lead. Harrington finally struck out Taylor Walls with two runners to end the 30-pitch first.
After Misner’s sacrifice fly in the third, Lowe rocked his second homer, a two-run drive to right-center to score Diaz for the second time as the Rays took full command at 6-0 in the fourth.
Lowe added the final tally by singling in Jonny DeLuca, who tripled to open the eighth.
