Honesty is no sweat for Price

Honesty isn't always a foolproof policy, apparently.

David Price thought he was doing the right thing by walking off the mound at the end of the second inning and informing plate umpire Paul Nauert that the substance caked so heavily on his left arm that it was starting to turn a bit white was simply designed to help him ward off perspiration.

"It's the equivalent of putting some Right Guard on your forearm," Manager Joe Maddon said.

"I went out there and told the umpire, look, this is just so where I don't sweat - it's not sticky, I'm not cheating," Price said. "He was like, yeah, that's fine. Then Joe West said something and I had to take it off."

That ruling from the veteran umpire crew chief didn't come until Price was about to take the mound to start the fourth inning, leading to the initially confusing sight of the pitcher leaving his glove with Evan Longoria and walking to the Rays' dugout, where Fernando Perez poured water on Price's arm as the pitcher scrubbed away furiously with a towel on the offending spot.

"That's considered a foreign substance," Maddon said. "However, if you are being attacked by a swarm of bugs, you can spray all the insecticide on you that you want and that's not considered a foreign substance. So it's the old foreign substance double-standard, I guess."

That interlude didn't appear to have much of an effect on Price's pitching, which once again proved to be a frustrating exercise in postgame dissection.

Maddon all but raved about the way Price threw the ball, and the pitcher also seemed pleased - which is really saying something considering he his by far his own worst critic. Yet he was left with five runs on his ledger in five innings, leaving his ERA in three starts against the Rangers this season at 9.45.

"I guess my ERA's just huge in Texas," Price said. "Everything's bigger here, so I don't know what it is. I felt good, though."

Coach watch

Maddon will meet with the members of his coaching staff in the days after the season ends about plans for next season, but said Sunday he doesn't anticipate any changes to the staff as of right now.

"We just want to sit down and have a conversation with all the guys and we'll just get that done probably the beginning of next week, I think," Maddon said.

The bulk of the staff agreed to two-year contracts following the 2007 season. Pitching coach Jim Hickey and quality assurance coach Todd Greene were on one-year deals, but the bottom line is everyone is up for renewal.

Odds and ends

B.J. Upton said he was OK after being hit in the left foot by a pitch in the eighth inning. ... Randy Choate earned his first win as a Ray in his 57th appearance. ... Lance Cormier notched his first save since May 9, when he went 32/3 innings in a 14-5 win at Boston.

Marc Lancaster