Steven Geltz throws during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. (Photo Credit: AP Photo)
Steven Geltz throws during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. (Photo Credit: AP Photo)

Rays 5/4/15 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Souza RF
Loney 1B
Longoria 3B
DeJesus LF
Forsythe 2B
Cabrera SS
Butler DH
Rivera C
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

– James Loney has been moved up to third, while Asdrubal Cabrera was bumped down to seventh.

– Mark Simon, blogger/stats analyst for ESPN, released which teams are making the hardest contact, and which teams are allowing the hardest contact. In the Rays’ favor, Tampa Bay is tied for eighth in giving up the least amount of hard contact. However, the Rays’ hitters are ranked 26th in making hard contact, just ahead of the Boston Red Sox who they start a three-game set with tonight.

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Which team pitching staffs are giving up the most hard-hit contact? (Credit: Mark Simon)
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The Rays are at the bottom of the MLB team hard-hit rate leaderboard. (Credit: Mark Simon)
– Don’t forget to read our series preview if you haven’t already. If you have, make it a two-fer.

– Interesting take on things. Peter Gammons tweeted, (the) average time of (a) game in (the) O’s-Rays series over weekend: 2:32. (It) tells us (that) part of pace lagging baseball is clubs’ “in game entertainment.” While that’s partially true, as Marc Topkin noted, the lack of Rays offense in those games (four runs total) had an effect on the pace of play.

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