A preface
Jeremy Hellickson was sailing along — pitching five innings of two hit, no run, ball. Then in sixth inning after throwing 70 pitches…
The New What Next
Five’s the lucky number…right? Matt Moore will make his fifth consecutive attempt at win numero nueve Friday night, when he takes the mound against Luis Mendoza. The Rays have had success against Mendoza, and they’ll look to bounce back following their one run, six hit, embarrassment against Ervin Santana. You can read about the pitching matchup here.
Rays 6/14/13 Starting Lineup
Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Johnson 3B
Longoria DH
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Fuld LF
Lobaton C
Escobar SS
Moore LHP
Noteworthiness
- Evan Longoria will again be handling the DH duties and hitting fourth, while Kelly Johnson takes over at third and hitting third. Per Marc Topkin, “Longoria has some plantar fasciitis his in right foot. Could DH throughout the weekend, Maddon said.”
- Former Ray James Shields was honored at the Trop prior to Thursday night’s game, and I’ve got to say that it was pretty cool. You can check out video from the tribute here. You can also see the tribute in its entirety here. Truth be told, it’s still really weird to see Juego G in Royals blue. Admittedly, I still get a bit choked up when I hear him call the Tampa Bay area his home.
- Luke Scott had not one, but TWO HITS Thursday night.
- What the fu…Elliot Johnson vs. Rays: 5-for-10, 2 HR, 4 RBI. Elliot Johnson vs. everyone else: 17-for-84 (.202), 0 HR, 3 RBI.
- Tampa Bay optioned Jake Odorizzi to Triple-A Durham following his 3.1 IP/4 H/2 R/2 ER/2 BB/4 K/1 HR appearance in relief of Hellickson Thursday night. In turn, they reactivated Alex Cobb from the bereavement list. Cobb will make his previously scheduled start Saturday against Jeremy Guthrie.