BRADENTON, Fla. -- Kevin Hart turned in another ugly line in the Pirates' 16-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon at McKechnie Field.

The game began with winds gusting up to 35 mph toward left field, and the score, perhaps predictably, was 5-5 after two innings.

The Pirates scored five in the first, on Andy LaRoche's bases-clearing double off the top of the center-field fence and Ronny Cedeno's two-run home run to left with the next at-bat.

Kevin Hart, battling for the fifth spot in Pittsburgh's rotation with Daniel McCutchen, gave up five runs in the second.

Hart had a 1-2-3 first but walked the bases loaded with one out in the second. Reid Brignac's double to right-center brought two runs, Elliot Johnson's sacrifice fly another. And Tampa Bay tied the score when Sean Rodriguez singled up the middle, and center fielder Jose Tabata allowed it to get by him and roll to the wall. Rodriguez came all the way around.

Hart has been charged with seven runs and seven walks in three spring innings.

"The way I threw the ball, I feel like I took a step forward," Hart said. "Stuff-wise and pitch-wise, I felt better and more confident."

He said he fared better out of the windup, which is how he and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan did most of their work between starts.

"The first inning felt good. It felt under control. It was just like strike one, strike two, then putting a guy away. Out of the windup, I felt comfortable. Out of the stretch, I kind of went back to some of the old stuff. I made the adjustment late. The other time, I didn't make the adjustment the whole time out there."

The Pirates led 6-5 entering the fifth but Tampa Bay scored three times, including solo home runs by Carl Crawford and Pat Burrell and Brignac's RBI single, all off Jean Machi.

The Rays broke an 8-8 tie with seven runs in the seventh, including Chris De La Cruz's two-run double and back-to-back home runs by Justin Ruggiano and Angel Chavez. Jeff Karstens was charged with five runs in that inning, Ramon Aguero two.

Neil Walker hit a two-run home run in the bottom half and went 2 for 2.

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