Henry Davis continues to make a strong impression on the Pittsburgh Pirates, whether or not he’s swinging the bat.
Davis crushed his second home run of spring training in the first inning and drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run in a five-run fifth, showing why the catcher is becoming the leading candidate to earn the second catcher spot beside Yasmani Grandal on the Opening Day roster.
The Pirates drew three consecutive walks and got RBI singles by Alika Williams and Jack Suwinski in the fifth to beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3, on Saturday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla.
Davis drilled Jack Flaherty’s 1-1 slider at a 108.7 exit velocity to left field for a 419-foot homer and 1-0 Pirates lead in the first inning. Davis started behind the plate for right-hander Roansy Contreras, who held the Tigers to one hit but gave up three walks with one strikeout in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Contreras got out of trouble in the first, when he walked Zach McKinstry and Riley Greene reached on a fielding error by shortstop Oneil Cruz but got Spencer Torkelson on an infield fly and Colt Keith to ground out to first. In the second, Contreras gave up a two-out walk to Justice Bigbie, then a single to Carson Kelly before getting Parker Meadows to ground out to first.
The Tigers took the lead in the fourth inning, when Colin Holderman struck out the first two batters before walking the next three. Brady Feigl replaced him and gave up bases-loaded walks to McKinstry and Greene for a 2-1 lead.
The Pirates answered with five runs in the top of the fifth, sparked by Canaan Smith-Njigba drawing a walk, stealing second, advancing to third on a Nick Gonzales single and scoring on a groundout by Jake Lamb. Williams singled to drive in Gonzales before Cruz, Ji Hwan Bae and Davis all drew walks, the latter scoring Williams. Suwinski followed with a two-run single for a 6-2 Pirates lead.
Andy Ibanez homered off Pirates reliever Brent Honeywell Jr. in the bottom of the fifth to cut it to 6-3. Pirates outfield prospect Matt Gorski smashed a homer to left-center in the ninth to increase the lead to 7-3.
