Tampa Bay Rays Rumors & News

Tampa Tribune "Rays manager Joe Maddon backtracked Tuesday on his comments concerning the gesture Yunel Escobar made while crossing home plate Monday after his ninth-inning home run against the Blue Jays and defended Escobar's action. Maddon said after Monday's game that he would talk to Escobar, adding, "I'm..." May 22

Tampa Bay Times "With all Fernando Rodney did Tuesday, he figured he might as well aim high. So after getting the final five outs in another tougher-than-it-needed-to-be 4-3 win over the Blue Jays, he took full aim at the top of the Rogers Centre with his imaginary celebratory arrow. "Right through the..." May 22

Tampa Bay Times "SS Yunel Escobar responded to constant booing in his return to Rogers Centre by hitting a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning that gave the Rays a late shot before they lost 7-5. But now Escobar, who played 21/2 seasons in Toronto, will have to answer to manager Joe Maddon because..." May 21

Tampa Tribune "Rays manager Joe Maddon said before Saturday's game that a winner has been declared in the race to replace David Price in the rotation while Price nurses his strained left triceps. That winner is Jake Odorizzi. He was the man all along, because he was pitching on the same schedule as..." May 19

Tampa Bay Times "LHP Matt Moore became the first eight-game winner in the majors as the Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles with a 3-1 win. Moore moved to a perfect 8-0 in working seven innings, allowing the one runs and five hits, striking out three. Joel Peralta worked the eighth and Fernando..." May 19

Tampa Tribune "Closer Fernando Rodney said he is the same pitcher he was last season, when he turned in a season for the ages. So what's wrong? He can't locate his fastball. “The only thing I saw that I can tell you guys, I think the fastball location is not exactly what I want, what I'm looking for...." May 18

Boston Herald "Will Middlebrooks’ slump finally died last night. It happened at about 10:30 p.m., so you probably missed it, considering the Bruins were thundering away in overtime back home. But down to his last strike, and with the Red Sox trailing by two runs with two outs in the ninth inning, Middlebrooks..." May 17

Tampa Bay Times "After feeling tightness in the back of his arm for the fourth, or maybe fifth, time during the third inning Wednesday against the Red Sox, David Price looked into the Rays dugout and summoned for help. Never in the thousands of fastballs he threw had he felt something like this, and he knew as..." May 16

CBSSports.com "The Rays have placed left-hander David Price on the 15-day DL with a left triceps strain, the team announced. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner left last Wednesday night's start with triceps tightness. Price, 27, is visiting the DL for the first time in his career. He'd thrown at least 200..." May 16

Boston Herald "John Farrell was aware of the numbers. Entering last night, the Red Sox had scored only 36 runs on 91 hits in their last 11 games. As a team, the Sox batted .244 with a .310 on-base percentage. And Tuesday night, they went 1-for-26 after David Ortiz’ first-inning home run. But Farrell is a..." May 16

Tampa Tribune "Tampa Bay Rays players arrived at the clubhouse before Tuesday’s game against Boston and found Aramis Gutierrez and Sol Caribe playing salsa music and 27 plantains hanging from the ceiling near the lockers of RHPs Fernando Rodney, Joel Peralta, Juan Carlos Oviedo and Roberto Hernandez. “I..." May 15

Tampa Tribune "Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price revealed Tuesday that he has been severely affected by allergies this season that have causes skin rashes and blurred vision and that he underwent an allergy test earlier in the day. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is 1-3 with a 4.78 ERA..." May 15

Tampa Bay Times "The headlines from Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Red Sox belong to Matt Moore, who became the first American League pitcher to seven wins, and a perfect seven at that, and the first in Rays history to be 7-0. "That's pretty incredible," manager Joe Maddon said. But the story line of how the..." May 15

Tampa Tribune "It was about to become maybe the worst loss of the season. Among the top three for sure, according to the manager. Another disappointing night for Jeremy Hellickson. Another big lead gone. Another shot at reaching .500 squandered. Then Evan Longoria put a charge into a slider from..." May 12

Tampa Tribune "Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon was not happy to see starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson let another big lead slip away. The normally always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-things manager turned sour after the Rays had to rally for an 8-7 win against the San Diego Padres on Evan Longoria's two-run,..." May 12

Tampa Tribune "It was Star Trek Night at Tropicana Field on Friday night, and keeping with the theme Captain Alex Cobb boldly went were no major league pitcher has gone before. The Tampa Bay Rays right-hander became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out 13 batters in appearance that lasted..." May 11

Tampa Tribune "The Tampa Bay Rays placed RHP Brandon Gomes on the 15-day disabled list Friday afternoon with a right lat strain and recalled RHP Josh Lueke from Triple A Durham. Lueke has had a solid start to his season. In 13-2/3 innings over 10 games he has struck out 20 batters, walked three, allowed 11..." May 11

Tampa Bay Times "DH Luke Scott hasn't had much opportunity to contribute after missing the first month of the Rays season with injury. Thursday, he was at the center of attention after drawing a bases loaded walk with two outs in the 10th inning that gave the Rays a 5-4 victory. Evan Longoria started the rally..." May 10

Tampa Tribune "It is kind of early in the year to call one win a big win, but given the events of the past few nights, given the way the Tampa Bay Rays have kicked away winnable games, Wednesday’s victory was, well, kind of big. The Rays didn’t blow a lead. The offense tacked on runs. The result was..." May 09

The Globe and Mail "Some teammates raced toward the mound, others broke obligatorily to play the ball, still others stood paralyzed in the field. Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ had delivered a fastball to Desmond Jennings with the count at three balls and one strike in the second inning. Jennings’s line drive..." May 08

Toronto Star "J.P. Arencibia was none too pleased about his manager’s decision to sit him from the starting lineup on Monday, as part of an experiment to try to spark a turnaround for stumbling starter Mark Buehrle. “Ask Gibby,” Arencibia said, with more than a hint of annoyance, when a reporter inquired as to..." May 07

Tampa Tribune "The Tampa Bay Rays were already in a jam before Desmond Jennings stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning Sunday at Coors Field. Ben Zobrist left the team to join his family after the death of his grandmother. Yunel Escobar could not play because of a bruised left hand suffered..." May 06

Tampa Tribune "The Tampa Bay Rays have played 18 of their last 24 games away from Tropicana Field, so the long homestand that begins tonight is welcomed. “This last month it feels like we've been on the road every day,” said Jeremy Hellickson, tonight's starter as Tampa Bay opens a four-game series with..." May 06

Tampa Tribune "Ben Zobrist left the team and returned to Illinois because of the death of his grandmother. He is not expected to rejoin the team until Tuesday. With Yunel Escobar out at least three days with a bruised left hand suffered in Saturday's game, the Rays will be shorthanded on the bench for..." May 06

Denver Post "RISP. It's one of the most important acronyms/statistics in baseball. It's something the Rockies talked about throughout spring training. But their failure to drive in runners in scoring position (RISP) cost them dearly in their weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Coors Field. In an..." May 06

Tampa Tribune "LHP David Price returns to the mound tonight for the first time since his much-publicized dispute with umpire Tom Hallion, and Price can’t wait. “Absolutely, yeah,” Price said. “It has been an awfully tough week, but that’s part of it, and I understand that. I’m looking forward to going out..." May 04

Sports Talk Florida "On April 12, 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays changed the face of the franchise forever, calling up heralded rookie Evan Longoria to “the show” to see what he could do. That season, Longoria’s incredible attributions catapulted the Rays to the postseason for the first time in franchise history and..." May 03

SI.com "Two of the most-viewed players were Mets prospect Travis d'Arnaud and Rays outfield prospect Wil Myers, who both took foul balls off their feet in Triple-A. Myers' diagnosis wasn't so bad, while d'Arnaud's was less than ideal: The catching prospect was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of..." May 03

Grantland "The Rays' 3-2 loss Monday gave the team three total runs for the three games at Fenway. Tampa Bay has now scored 35 runs in 12 games, an average of less than three a game and the lowest total in the majors, save for the hapless Marlins. Zobrist's ninth-inning single was the Rays' first hit with a..." May 03

ESPN.com "Major League Baseball has fined umpire Tom Hallion and Tampa Bay Rays pitchers David Price, Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore an unspecified amount for their involvement in an incident during this past Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox, sources familiar with the situation told..." May 02

Tampa Bay Times "Asked to sum up the Rays' play through an inconsistent April in which they went 12-14, manager Joe Maddon settled on "mediocre." Well, the word for the first day of May was miserable. The Rays let another game get away, and this one was particularly ugly, losing 9-8 to the Royals after..." May 02

Tampa Tribune "Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday had he known it would turn into such an ordeal he would have been more “proactive” Sunday to defuse the incident between LHP David Price and home-plate umpire Tom Hallion. “I take a lot of responsibility in that moment by not being proactive,”..." May 01

Kansas City Star "James Shields recovered from a shaky start Tuesday night and beat his former club when the Royals finally found some offensive punch in the late innings for an 8-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium. It was an emotional night for Shields, who spent 12 years in the Rays’..." May 01

Tampa Bay Times "Part of what makes James Shields the pitcher he is, and what made him the pitcher the Royals wanted badly enough from the Rays to part with elite prospect Wil Myers, is the intensity he brings to the mound to win each and every game. But sitting in the Kauffman Stadium dugout Monday afternoon,..." April 30

CSN Chicago "The injuries and the errors continue to pile up for the White Sox. So have the losses. Outfielder Alex Rios dropped a bases-loaded fly ball in the eighth inning Sunday to help the Tampa Bay Rays pull away for an 8-3 victory over the White Sox in front of 22,677 at U.S. Cellular Field. Rios’..." April 29

Foxsports.com "Rays ace David Price has never been known as a hot-headed hurler. But all that changed Sunday after he faced the White Sox. The defending AL Cy Young winner pitched well, allowing three earned runs and striking out nine in seven innings to earn his first win of the season , 8-3 in Chicago. But..." April 28

Tampa Tribune "David Price earned his elusive first win of the season on the same mound where he earned his 20th win last season. Price threw seven innings Sunday in the Rays' 8-3 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked two and struck out nine. Price,..." April 28

Tampa Tribune "The struggling Tampa Bay Rays turned to their stopper Saturday night, their one sure thing during this first month of the season. That would be left-hander Matt Moore, who had stopped every one of the Rays' losing streaks this season. That streak continued as Moore pitched the Rays to a 10-4..." April 28

CBSSports.com "Baseball commissioner Bud Selig seemingly has planned to step down, retire or vacate his job almost since he took office back in 1992. But this time, he is much more emphatic about his retirement pronouncements, even to the point of believability. “You can believe it,'' Selig said, pretty..." April 26

Chicago Tribune "Robin Ventura has one luxury while he tries to find the right combination to snap the White Sox out of their offensive funk. Injuries and the addition of Conor Gillaspie give the Sox enough left-handed hitters to combat tough right-handed pitchers like the Rays' Jeremy Hellickson. Starting..." April 26