By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, May 19, 2011
If you give a hoot …
The Rays are opening a new party area at the Trop, called the Hooters Owls Den suite, which has been remodeled to resemble a traditional Hooters restaurant. It will serve Hooters fare such as wings and buffalo shrimp, and will be staffed by Hooters girls.
Rays at Marlins
When/where: 7:10 tonight, Sun Life Stadium, Miami
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Starting pitchers
Rays
RH Andy Sonnanstine (0-1, 3.92)
Marlins
RH Anibal Sanchez (3-1, 2.90)
Watch for ...
Sonny's day: Sonnanstine makes his third start in place of injured RHP Jeff Niemann, going a combined 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA, compared with 0-1, 2.19 in six relief outings. He has pitched well against the Marlins, with a 3-0, 3.31 mark. And he gets to hit, a bonus given his .318 career average.
Bell-ringing: Sanchez has great stuff, seeming to flirt with a no-hitter about once a month. (He had one in September 2006.) He hasn't allowed a run in his last two starts, and just six over his last five. He beat the Rays in a June 2010 start at the Trop.
Key matchups
Rays vs. Sanchez
Johnny Damon 1-for-3
B.J. Upton 1-for-3
Casey Kotchman 4-for-5, HR
Marlins vs. sonnanstine
Chris Coghlan 1-for-5
Hanley Ramirez 4-for-16
Mike Stanton 2-for-4
On deck
Saturday: at Marlins, 4:10. Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (5-3, 3.59); Marlins — Javier Vazquez (2-4. 7-55)
Sunday: at Marlins, 1:10. Sun Sports. Rays — James Shields (4-2, 2.26); Marlins — Josh Johnson (3-1, 1.64)
Monday: at Tigers, 7:05. Sun Sports. Rays — Jeremy Hellickson (5-2, 3.18); Tigers — Phil Coke (1-5, 3.88)
Tuesday: at Tigers, 7:05. Sun Sports. Rays — Wade Davis (4-4, 3.47); Tigers — Justin Verlander (4-3, 2.96)
Marc Topkin, Times staff writer
Longo video catching on
The video of the Rays 3B Evan Longoria "saving" a reporter with a bare-handed catch has gone viral, with close to 3 million hits on YouTube.com (see http://tinyurl.com/695973v). Longoria said the video — "It's still real, by the way" — was shot with a handheld camera in one take in about five minutes, after a six-hour shoot for another Gillette commercial. "It's funny how when we talk about something going viral, it really does," Longoria said. "Once it gets on to Twitter and YouTube, it goes from a small snowball to an avalanche pretty quickly."