Bryan Reynolds, Jared Triolo clear deck with homers as Pirates beat Rays

BRADENTON, Fla. — Bryan Reynolds took play-by-play announcer Greg Brown’s “clear the deck” home run call to another level.

Reynolds smashed a cannonball that sailed over the deck and left field bleachers and out of LECOM Park, his second shot this week that left the ballpark.

It inspired Jared Triolo to do the same. Triolo hit a three-run homer off Erasmo Ramirez that sailed out of the ballpark, then added some splash with a pair of spectacular plays at second base.

Gilberto Celestino added a grand slam for good measure in the seventh as the Pirates beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 12-8, on Friday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game.

“Swing’s feeling good,” said Triolo, who is 4 for 10 in four games this spring. “He put a pitch where I was expecting it and put a good swing on it. It felt good.”

After the Rays roughed up Pirates ace Mitch Keller in a three-run first, the Pirates answered with some firepower at the plate.

The Rays started fast against Keller, who allowed three earned runs on four hits, two walks and one hit batter with two strikeouts while throwing 32 of his 48 pitches for strikes.

Amed Rosario singled, stole second and scored on Jonathan Aranda’s double to left. After Isaac Paredes drew a one-out walk, Curtis Mead singled to score Aranda to make it 2-0 and load the bases. Jose Siri hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Paredes for a 3-0 lead.

Reynolds put the Pirates on the scoreboard when he hit a knee-high 2-2 sinker by Jacob Lopez for a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning. His second homer of spring training left the bat at an exit velocity of 112.1 mph and sailed an estimated 414 feet.

“He crushed it. I think he knew it as soon as he hit it that it was crushed,” Triolo said. “Maybe some extra motivation from Bryan.”

Reynolds blasted a 434-foot homer over the batter’s eye in center Tuesday in a home game against the Atlanta Braves.

Triolo soon joined the party, sending a second ball out of the park with two outs in the second inning. Triolo blasted a 372-foot, three-run shot to left-center off Ramirez to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead.

In the fourth, Triolo was shading toward second base when he backhanded a Rosario grounder and made a throw from the other side of the bag. Triolo then made a diving stop to his left on an Aranda grounder and threw him out from his knees.

“He just continues to get better,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Triolo. “He hit the home run, but the two plays he made in the field in the same inning, the third inning. He’s just a baseball player. I think we’re continuing to see the evolution of him being a really good player.”

They were the first two ground balls hit his way at second base this spring.

“It’s good to get the tough plays out of the way here in spring training,” Triolo said. “Just getting the reps is amazing, just seeing the ball off the bat.”

Triolo is making a strong push to win the starting job at second base in his competition with Ji Hwan Bae, Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero and is starting to make quite the impression on his Pirates teammates.

“I was just standing out there in left thinking, ‘Man, he’s a good player,’ ” Reynolds said of Triolo. “He plays defense well, throws it well, hits it well. He’s just a really good player.”