Prospect Ciuffo smacks first big league homer
This browser does not support the video element.
ST. PETERSBURG -- Nick Ciuffo's first career home run got the Rays' long ball party started Friday night.
Three additional home runs followed, with the quartet accounting for 11 of the Rays' runs in a 14-2 win over the Orioles at Tropicana Field.
Ciuffo's homer came with two aboard in the second inning off Orioles starter Dylan Bundy, staking the Rays to a 3-0 lead.
"I got a good pitch to hit, and I didn't miss it," said Ciuffo -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Rays' No. 25 prospect.
The Rays' bats were far from satisfied.
Kevin Kiermaier's turn came when he stepped to the plate with two on and two out in the third.
This browser does not support the video element.
Kiermaier hit a pair of home runs in the Rays' 10-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday. On Friday night, he jumped on a 1-2 Bundy offering, driving the ball over the right-field wall near the foul pole to put the Rays up, 6-0.
Sean Gilmartin replaced Bundy in the fifth, and the results were similar. With one out in the inning, Tommy Pham homered over the center-field wall to push the lead to 7-0.
This browser does not support the video element.
Ryan Meisinger took over from Gilmartin with two out in the sixth and he walked Matt Duffy, the first batter he faced. Ji-Man Choi followed with his seventh home run of the season -- and his second career grand slam, both coming this season -- for an 11-2 lead.
This browser does not support the video element.
But it all started with Ciuffo, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Durham on Monday, when he made his Major League debut as part of a whirlwind season.
During last year's Winter Meetings, the Rays gambled by not protecting their first pick of the 2013 Draft, and they were pleased that no teams selected him in the Rule 5 Draft.
In the spring, Ciuffo received a 50-game suspension without pay for testing positive for marijuana.
Ciuffo then hit .262 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 60 games for Durham, while throwing out 43.2 percent of attempted basestealers behind the plate.
He recorded his first Major League hit Wednesday night in Toronto, then stepped up his game with his first homer Friday to help a team trying to make a charge in the AL Wild Card race.
"We scored a lot of runs tonight, and a lot of people contributed," Ciuffo said.