Rays Win 4-1 Over Blue Jays, 16-15 Over Pirates

This is starting to get ridiculous.  The Rays have now won nine games in a row to make their Spring Training record 9-1, tops in the American League.  They're 4.0 games up on the Yankees and 2.5 games up on the Red Sox.  If only today was the middle of April instead of March...

The injury bug struck the Rays again today, with Dioner Navarro having to leave the game against the Pirates in the 3rd inning after being struck in the left thumb by a pick-off thrown gone bad.  So far it's just been labeled as a "contusion", but x-rays were inconclusive.  He'll rest for a couple days and then be re-examined.  That's five Rays that are dealing with injuries now: Aybar and his wrist, Jennings and his wrist, Price and his right palm, Joyce and his elbow (which has now been classified as a "sprain", according to The Tampa Tribune), and Navarro and his thumb.  Thankfully none of these injuries is severe, although it appears that Jennings will be resting the remainder of the spring and starting the season in Triple-A.

As for actual performances today, Andy Sonnanstine and Jacob McGee stole the day.  Sonnanstine pitched four scoreless innings against the Blue Jays, allowing only one hit, one walk, and striking out three.  He also posted a 5:4 ground ball to fly ball ratio.  McGee pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out two.  Wade Davis started in the game against the Pirates and got hammered, letting up five earned runs in two innings.  He walked three, struck out two, and allowed three hits (including one home run).

Offensively, Crawford, Burrell, Jaso, Ruggiano, and Chavez all homered.  Burrell was 2-2 on the day with a walk, while Brignac was 2-3 with 3 RBI, making his spring total 13 RBIs.

Also, according to Marc Topkin, the Rays cut Tim Beckham, Jacob McGee, Nevin Ashley today, re-assigning Ashley and Beckham to minor league camp and optioning McGee to the minors.