TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rookies To Get Their Chance

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Manager Joe Maddon spent a few days trying to decide whether LHP David Price, RHP Mitch Talbot or RHP Jeff Niemann will fill a slot for an extra start at Baltimore this week.

It appears all three late-season call-ups will get a shot.

Price, the USA Today Minor-League Player of the Year, will make his first major-league start tonight. Talbot will start the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday night, and Niemann will back up both starters.

Matt Garza, who pitched on three days' rest in his last start, will skip his spot in the rotation and will make his next start on Saturday at Detroit.

Maddon said he likes how Price and Talbot match up against the Orioles.

"If you look at Mitch's record this year at Triple-A Durham, he does nice work against left-handed hitters. They have a nice contingent of lefties, and they're very good lefties. I like David also because of the lefties."

Since Price and Talbot will be limited in their pitch counts and are not expected to go deep into either game, Niemann should get a crack in at least one of the games.

BIG UNIT: Niemann, who is listed at 6-9, 280 pounds, won his MLB debut against Baltimore on April 13. He lost a second start and spent the season at Durham until being called up Sept. 13.

He pitched 11/3 innings of hitless relief in Tampa Bay's 11-1 victory against Minnesota on Friday night.

"I really like what Niemann did out of the bullpen Friday," Maddon said. "Not only the velocity, but the angle and everything else, and his confidence is fun to watch."

UPTON RETURNS: After pinch-hitting Saturday night, CF B.J. Upton (strained left quad) made his first start since Sept. 8.

Batting lead-off because Akinori Iwamura was given the day off, Upton had the best day of any Ray at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and drawing a walk. One of his singles was a perfect bunt down the third-base line in the fifth.

"I felt comfortable out there," Upton said. "I didn't have to really get on it to get any balls, but I felt like if I needed to, I could have."

FINAL CROWD NUMBERS: Sunday's crowd of 36,048 gave the Rays their eighth sellout of the year, doubling the previous high for a season (four in 2007) and matching the combined total of the 10 previous seasons.

The total regular season home attendance of 1,811,986 was second best in club history, behind the 2,506,023 for the Rays' inaugural season in 1998.

While weekday crowds often were disappointing - especially late in the season with the team contending for a playoff berth - the Rays did realize a 30.4 percent increase at the gate.

Big crowds are expected for the postseason.

PERCIVAL BATTLING: RHP Troy Percival, trying to prove he's healthy enough to take a spot on the postseason roster, pitched a scoreless eighth inning. After retiring his first two batters, he walked two before getting Carlos Gomez to ground out.

Since undergoing a series of epidural injections for his bad back on Sept. 14, Percival has pitched three times in the last four games. He looked fine in his first outing but didn't make it through an inning in Saturday's 7-2 victory against the Twins.

Sunday, his velocity was down, with most of his fastballs registering in the 86-88 mph range.

The team's closer when healthy, Percival will receive a second series of epidural injections Tuesday. He won't be available to pitch for 48 hours afterward. He knows the result may determine whether he's on the playoff roster.

"Oh yeah, it would be no good to put a guy on there who isn't healthy," Percival said, adding that the medical staff has told him that the improvement from the second round of injections should be more lasting.

OLD SCHOOL CONGRATS: Maddon said he received several congratulatory texts and calls after the Rays clinched a postseason berth Saturday.

Sixty-eight-year-old Joe Torre apparently doesn't do texts. The former Yankees and current Dodgers manager sent a fax.

What did it say?

"Congratulations on winning a tough division," Maddon said.

Well, not yet.

SERIES PEST: Twins C Joe Mauer feasted on Rays pitching in the four-game series, hitting .533 (8-for-14) and extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

He leads the AL in batting at .330 and is hitting .391 in September. He went 2-for-4 with a double and triple Sunday.

"He just jumped to the top of my list of the toughest guys to face," said Andy Sonnanstine, the Rays' starter Sunday.

Tony Fabrizio

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT