TAMPA, Fla. — Danny Jansen hit his first home run of the season and drove in four runs, Christopher Morel also went deep, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 on Friday night to open a three-game interleague series at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Jansen, who had one hit in his first 27 at-bats through the Rays’ first 12 games, hit a two-run homer on a first-pitch sinker from Bryce Elder in the fourth inning, scoring Kameron Misner. The 358-foot shot came just after the Rays had a run taken away on an overturned call at the plate.
In his next at-bat in the sixth, the 29-year-old catcher hit an RBI single to center and added a ground-rule double in the eighth that scored another run.
Morel hit a solo shot in the sixth and finished with three hits as the American League East’s Rays — who are playing their home games this season at the spring training home of the New York Yankees (a division rival) due to hurricane damage at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg — improved to 6-7.
Rays starter Taj Bradley (2-0) struggled to get through the first inning, needing 32 pitches to do so but allowing just one run. Atlanta’s Matt Olson drove in Austin Riley with a single before Bradley struck out Bryan De La Cruz and Jarred Kelenic with the bases loaded to end the threat.