The Rays will take on the Boston Red Sox Thursday night, in the rubber match the current three-game set. There really wasn’t much to like about the previous game. Tampa Bay gave up nine runs over the course of two innings, while the bats — though alive — couldn’t score more than two runs off Jon Lester — who was more lucky than dominant.
The biggest news of the night revolved around the removal of David Price after only 2-1/3 innings of work, due to left triceps tightness extending from a strain. This is the first injury of Price’s major league career, and the timing couldn’t be worse for the pitcher who has already been battered and bruised — metaphorically speaking — following a 1-4 start to the season, with a 5.24 ERA.
Price called for the training staff after feeling what he described as a tight feeling in his left triceps following a third inning single to David Ortiz. The discomfort was apparent — David clenched and unclenched his fist several times after the play.
Per Steve Carney of 620 WDAE, Price is headed to the 15-day disabled list. The question begs: If Price is added to the DL, who will take his place?
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times speculates that Jake Odorizzi will more than likely get called up. Odorizzi is on the same pitching schedule as Price, while Chris Archer is on a limited pitch count after a set of abbreviated starts. Carney also noted that the Rays have decided to help out the bullpen for next few days, calling up Alex Torres since he has bullpen experience. Alex Torres (2-2, 2.39 ERA) has seven starts under his belt this season, and is third in ERA and strikeouts (49), while holding hitters to a .190 BAA. In any case, a starter should be added to the rotation by Monday.
In better news, Cesar Ramos looked really good Wednesday night, putting together a 3.0 IP/1 H/0 R/0 BB/2 K outing on 42 pitches (29 for strikes). Ramos has now gone 13 consecutive innings without relenting a run, while giving up only three hits in that span.
The New What Next
Alex Cobb (4-2, 3.09 ERA) will butt-heads with Felix Doubront (3-1, 6.40 ERA) and the Boston Red Sox Thursday night at Tropicana Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10. If the Rays win tonight, they will again be two games over .500, they will have won their second consecutive series, and they will have ended their 10-game home stand with an impressive 7-3 record. You can read more on the match-up here.
Rays 5/16/13 Starting Lineup
1. Desmond Jennings CF
2. Luke Scott DH
3. Ben Zobrist RF
4. Evan Longoria 3B
5. Yunel Escobar SS
6. James Loney 1B
7. Sean Rodriguez LF
8. Jose Lobaton C
9. Ryan Roberts 2B
SP. Alex Cobb RHP