On Monday afternoon, the rain stayed away long enough for Charlie Morton to deliver an excellent performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Morton pitched into the 6th inning, retiring the first 10 hitters he faced in the game. Overall, he racked up four strikeouts, allowing two runs on four hits, while he walked walked two batters.

“I feel good,” Morton said. “I think my stuff is pretty good right now.”

Adam Kolarek collected two strikeouts during his scoreless inning, while Wilmer Font allowed a run on two hits during his appearance.

Offensively, Brandon Lowe added another double to his stat sheet. Yandy Diaz and Willy Adames also collected singles during the afternoon. There was a scare in the first inning when Kevin Kiermaier and Austin Meadows collided in the outfield after Kiermaier made one of his patented leaping catches on the warning track in right-center field.

Both players would remain in the game.

News and Links

• Getting to Know: Emilio Bonifacio - Neil Solondz, Rays Radio
• Tampa Bay Rays countdown to Opening Day: 10 reasons to watch - Austin Reimann, Rays Colored Glasses
• The openers experiment isn’t really an experiment anymore for Tampa Bay - Tim Brown, Yahoo Sports
• Rays make T-shirts for their pitchers to let you know that ‘Openers are humans too’ - Katherine Acquavella, CBS Sports
• ‘Comfortable’ Beeks eyes Opening Day roster - Juan Toribio, Rays Baseball
• Rays have plenty of contingencies in place if 3B Matt Duffy isn’t ready for opening day - Josh Tolentino, The Athletic ($)
• March Madness grips Rays clubhouse - Ernest Hooper, Tampa Bay Times ($)
• Rays’ Daniel Robertson readying for return from injury with added focus - Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times ($)

Sounding Off