By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Rays vs. Rangers
What/when: 6:40 tonight; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Starting pitchers
RAYS:
RH Wade Davis (4-4, 3.71)
RANGERS:
LH Derek Holland (3-1, 4.68)
Watch for …
Davis getting stronger: Davis is coming off arguably his best start of the season, yielding three runs in a no-decision against the Tigers, all coming on a home run by Miguel Cabrera after it appeared he had him struck out. Davis' fastball command and velocity have improved, and he was consistently in the 92-93 mph range. But his 28 walks to 30 strikeouts still is the third-worst walk-to-strikeout ratio in the majors.
Holland no-decision king: Remarkably, Holland has not had a decision in his past six starts, in which he has carried a 4.91 ERA. At least record-wise, the Rangers lefty has had some success against the Rays, with a 2-1 record but 7.04 ERA.
Key matchups
Rangers vs. Davis
Josh Hamilton 2-for-2, HR
Michael Young 1-for-3
Adrian Beltre 2-for-5
Rays vs. Holland
Johnny Damon 0-for-4
Evan Longoria 5-for-9, HR
B.J. Upton 3-for-6, HR
On deck
Tuesday: vs. Rangers, 6:40, Sun Sports. Rays — Alex Cobb (0-0, 8.37); Rangers — C.J. Wilson (5-3, 3.25)
Wednesday: vs. Rangers, 1:10, Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (6-4, 3.54); Rangers — Colby Lewis (4-5, 3.90)
Rick Stroud, Times staff writer
Condemnation of the day
Singer Avril Lavigne drew a sharp rebuke from the Rays for her foul language Saturday night. Lavigne's microphone did not work during her first song, and she responded to boos with a profane explanation. "The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night's show," spokesman Rick Vaughn said in a statement. "It is not consistent with the family-friendly atmosphere that Tropicana Field is known for."
Caped crusader of the day
Taking the lineup card to home plate, Rays DH Johnny Damon extended both arms in front of him and flew out of the dugout wearing a Super Sam Fuld cape that was distributed Sunday to the first 10,000 fans ages 14 and under.
Stat of the day
Matt Joyce's .374 average was the third-highest in the AL on May 29 in the past 10 years. Only the Orioles' Melvin Mora (.385 in 2004) and the Red Sox's Bill Mueller (.382 in '03) were higher.