ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The biggest test of the season came on Tuesday night for the Pirates, and they missed an opportunity to put an exclamation point on a scorching first month of 2023.
Missed opportunities were a key reason for the Pirates' 4-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field -- a matchup that has the most amount of significance any series in early May could possibly have. The Pirates carried the National League's best record into the series while the Rays not only boasted the best record in baseball, but were looking to become only the second team (2016 Cubs) to win 24 of their first 30 games in the Expansion Era (since 1961).