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Home , Alex Cobb, Andy Freed, Antonio Bastardo, Derek Shelton, Grayson Garvin, Joe Angel

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 vs. RH vs. RH Kevin Slowey First Pitch: 1:05 p.m. | Location: , Charlotte County, Fla. | TV: None | Radio: WDAE 620 AM Game No: 4 (1-1-1) | vs. AL: 1-1-0 | vs. NL: 0-0-1 | Home: 1-1-0 | Road: 0-0-1 Day 14 of | 29 Days Until —Monday, April 6 vs. BAL (3:10 p.m.)

IRON MAN RETURNS—Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. will deliver the cer- for Charlotte County in 2014, according TODAY’S STARTING LINEUP emonial first pitch today…during the game, he will sign his latest book,Out to data supplied by the Charlotte Har- 39 (L) CF at Home, the fifth in his All-Stars kids series. bor Visitor and Convention Bureau…the 7 David DeJesus (L) LF Rays-Red Sox game last March 19 drew 13 Asdrubal Cabrera (S) 2B GIVING BACK TO EDUCATORS—This week, the week of spring break, is 7,852 fans, the largest crowd in the 22- 44 Rene Rivera (R) C Charlotte County Public Schools Employee Appreciation Week…the Rays year history of spring training in 11 Logan Forsythe (R) 3B are offering the approximately 2,200 teachers and employees of the Char- Charlotte County. 65 Joey Butler (R) RF 68 Allan Dykstra (L) 1B lotte County Public School system free tickets to one of 3 spring training 83 Jake Elmore (R) SS games at Charlotte Sports Park: today, March 10 vs. PIT or March 12 vs. CLEAN SLATE—The Rays enter their 67 Luke Maile (R) DH TOR…Charlotte County Public School employees need only to present first season under , 22 Chris Archer RHP their employee identification badge at the Charlotte Sports Park box office and also with Matt Silverman at the head the day of the game to receive a free general admission ticket. of the Baseball Operations department… RAYS IN Silverman assumed his role of President, SPRING TRAINING PLAY BALL!—Today is the fourth of 31 scheduled Grapefruit League Baseball Operations on Oct 14, and he 2015 1-1-1 9,042 games, and third of 14 home games at Charlotte Sports Park…the Rays hired Cash as the fifth manager in Rays 2014 16-7-4 78,264 2013 15-17-2 90,935 also play 16 road games this spring and one home game at history on Dec 5…they succeeded Joe 2012 10-16-6 87,916 (April 4 vs. DET)…this is the Rays 18th spring in the Grapefruit League and , whose Maddon 2011 15-14-2 95,859 and seventh calling Charlotte Sports Park home…the 2014 Rays recorded nine years together made them the lon- 2010 20-8-2 97,971 the best spring record in the majors at 16-7-4 (.696), their third Grapefruit gest-tenured manager/GM pairing in base- 2009 15-16-1 103,255 League title in a span of seven seasons ball…Cash is the youngest current manag- 2008 18-8-2 54,960 (also 2008, 2010)…since becoming the BEST RECORDS, MLB, er or head in the major four sports; 2007 10-19-2 79,044 Rays in 2008, the team has recorded at SPRING TRAINING, 2008-15 Celtics Brad Stevens (38) is 2006 13-16-1 70,756 least 15 wins in six out of seven spring train- LA Angels 126-90 .583 the runner-up…on Opening Day, Cash (at 2005 13-16 61,261 ings…they never achieved this in 10 springs Kansas City 125-90 .581 37 years, 120 days) will be the youngest 2004 11-8 43,916 Detroit 125-93 .573 2003 8-19-3 51,324 as the Devil Rays…the Rays have compiled manager in MLB since ARI A.J. Hinch, Tampa Bay 110-87 .558 2002 10-16-1 49,043 a 110-87 (.558) spring record during this who debuted on May 8, 2009 (34y, 358d). St. Louis 110-90 .550 2001 12-15-1 57,081 span, 4th best in the majors (see chart). 2000 14-17 67,089 COBB GETS OPENING DAY NOD—On 1999 14-14-1 59,230 ROLL CALL—The Rays have invited 64 players to major league camp, af- Wednesday, Manager Kevin Cash an- 1998 12-18 66,781 ter the signing of non-roster invite RH Jim Miller this week…all except RH nounced that RH Alex Cobb will start Total 227-245-29 1,224,087 Alex Colome (visa issues) have reported…this group includes 32 , Opening Day (April 6 vs. BAL), and will be 7 (including C/DH John Jaso), 15 infielders and 10 . followed in the rotation by RH Chris Archer, LH Drew Smyly and RH Jake ÊÊ RH Grant Balfour returned to Australia to be with his father, David Odorizzi…this will mark the 13th straight season the Rays Opening Day Balfour, who is battling pancreatic cancer. starter has been age 30 or younger…the only Opening Day starter over age ÊÊ Major league camp includes players coming from six different coun- 30 in Rays history was 31-year-old Tanyon Sturtze in 2002. tries—the U.S., Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia, Colombia ÊÊ The Rays have 11 starting pitchers on their 40-man roster, and Cobb and South Korea—as well as Puerto Rico and Hawaii. is the eldest at 27 years, 5 months…he’s followed in age by RH Na- than Karns (27y, 3m), RH Chris Archer (26), RH Alex Colome (26), RAYS vs. PHILLIES—Today is the first of four games between the Rays LH Drew Smyly (25), LH (25), RH (25), and Phillies, and the only contest at Charlotte Sports Park…the Rays visit LH Grayson Garvin (25), RH (24), RH Clearwater on March 13, March 17 and April 2…last spring the Rays won (24) and LH Enny Romero (24). their only bout with the Phillies, 6-1, at home on March 3…the Rays did not make any trips to Bright House Field in 2014. NAMETAGS NEEDED—Eleven players on the 40-man roster were not in ÊÊ The clubs will meet July 20-22 at Citizens Bank Park, their first meet- the organization when the Rays opened spring training camp last year on ing since June 23-24, 2012, when the Rays won 2 of 3 games in Feb 15, and eight have joined the organization since the end of the 2014 Philly—including a doubleheader sweep on June 24…the Rays are regular season…32 of the 40 players on the current roster made their Rays 14-7 (.667) all-time against the Phillies in the regular season, tied for debut in 2012 or later. their best mark against any opponent (6-3 vs. Cubs, 6-3 vs. Brew- ÊÊ New Faces on the 40-man Roster (8) ers)…they are 6-3 at Tropicana Field and 8-4 in Philadelphia. Signed as Free Agent (2): INF Asdrubal Cabrera, RH Acquired in Trades (6): RH Jose Dominguez, C/DH John Jaso, RH YESTERDAY—The Rays played 10 innings to a 1-1 tie with the Pirates in , C Rene Rivera, RH Burch Smith, OF Steven Souza Jr. Bradenton…both teams scored in the 8th inning—the Rays on a homer by ÊÊ Key Losses (10) LF Corey Brown and the Pirates on a throwing on a pickoff attempt by Released (1): C Jose Molina. C Justin O’Conner…LF went 2-for-3…in his spring Traded (9): SS Yunel Escobar, C Ryan Hanigan, RH Jeremy Hellick- debut, starter RH Alex Cobb went 2 innings (1-H, 2-SO) and threw 17 of 23 son, OF , OF , RH Joel Peralta, LH Cesar Ra- pitches for strikes…LH Everett Teaford and LH Grayson Garvin followed mos, INF/OF , INF/OF . with 2 scoreless frames each. HOT STOVE THURSDAY—Hitting coach Derek Shelton will be one of two OUTLAW IN CENTER—In 2014, OF Kevin Kiermaier was one of three guests on this week’s edition of the Hot Stove radio show, airing on WDAE finalists for the Rawlings AL Gold Glove Award for right field, alongside LAA 620 AM from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday live from Hooters (1360 Tamiami Kole Calhoun and winner BAL …among all major leaguers, Trail, Port Charlotte, FL 33948)…hosts Dave Wills and will be he was one of three rookies chosen as a Gold Glove finalist along with out- joined by Neil Solondz. fielders CIN Billy Hamilton and BOS Jackie Bradley Jr. ÊÊ Kiermaier collected 10 HR and 8 3B in his rookie campaign, num- RAYS ON THE RADIO—Today is the second of 9 games this spring airing bers reached by only one other Rays rookie: (11-HR, on the Rays Radio Network…10 additional games are airing on MLB.com… 8-3B) in 2003…besides those two, the only other AL rookie to reach broadcasters Andy Freed and Dave Wills are entering their 11th season those marks was LAA (30-HR, 8-3B) in 2012. together in the Rays booth…among all 30 major league broadcast teams, only three have a longer tenured radio broadcast duo: DON’T ON RENE—In 2014 with the Padres, C Rene Rivera led all ÊÊ Tigers—Dan Dickerson & Jim Price entering 13th season together major league catchers with 29 runners and ranked 4th with ÊÊ Orioles—Joe Angel & Fred Manfra entering 12th season together a 33.3 pct. eraser rate (29 of 87)…during his career, has thrown out 33.6 ÊÊ Giants— & Dave Flemming entering 12th season together pct., 4th best among active catchers (min. 200 games), while the major league average over that span is 24.1 pct. VIDEO ON A SILVER PLATTER—The Rays provide a daily postgame video feed of all 16 non-televised spring training games…this will include WELCOME TO PARADISE—In 2014, readers of USA Today voted Char- about two minutes of highlights plus two short interviews…video should be lotte Sports Park their favorite spring training destination in all of baseball… uploaded by 5:15 p.m. …to receive email updates or for more information, those visitors accounted for an economic impact value of nearly $21 million contact Chris Tilley ([email protected] or 727-434-0497). UPCOMING PROBABLES—Today vs. PHI ÊÊ TB—RH Chris Archer (start), RH Kevin Jepsen, LH Jeff Beliveau, RH CHARLOTTE SPORTS PARK MEDIA INFORMATION Jose Dominguez, RH Brad Boxberger, RH Jhan Mariñez, RH Steven Geltz Pregame Media Schedule (all 1:05 games) Ê Ê PHI—RH Kevin Slowey (start), LH Joely Rodriguez, LH Cesar Clubhouse opens to media 8:00 a.m. Jimenez, LH Elvis Araujo, RH Hector Neris, RH Seth Rosin Kevin Cash available (manager’s office) 9:15 a.m. Mon., March 9 at NYY, 1:05 p.m. Rays stretch 9:30 a.m. Ê Ê TB—RH Nathan Karns (start), RH Ernesto Frieri, RH Brandon Gomes, Rays batting practice 10:15 a.m. RH Kirby Yates, LH Jordan Norberto, LH C.J. Riefenhauser Visitors batting practice 11:15 a.m. ÊÊ NYY—RH Michael Pineda (start), RH , RH David Car- penter, LH Justin Wilson 2015 Rays Media Guides are available digitally on RaysPressbox.com Tues., March 10 vs. PIT, at BOS (SS), 1:05 p.m. and MLBPressbox.com…see a member of the Communications staff to ÊÊ TB—TBA, TBA request a hard copy. ÊÊ PIT—LH (start), LH , RH Jared Parking is available to media on the grass directly behind the paved lots Hughes, LH Antonio Bastardo, RH Collin Balester, RH Rob Scahill of the main ballpark entrance...media parking is free to those with spring ÊÊ BOS—RH Justin Masterson (start), LH Henry Owens, RH Koji Uehara, training credentials...please see the Communications staff for a pass if LH Dana Eveland, RH Zeke Spruill, RH Anthony Varvaro, RH Dalier you plan to cover a large number of games. Hinojosa, RH Miguel Celestino Rays Clubhouse will open at 8 a.m. on most days and close at 9 a.m. TODAY’S RAYS STARTER—RH Chris Archer …it will re-open after workouts and batting practice on game days and ÊÊ 2014 with Rays: 10-9, 3.33 ERA (194.2-IP, 72-ER) in 32 starts when necessary in-game. ÊÊ Earlier this week was named the No. 2 starter behind Alex Cobb… enters his fourth major league season, second full year. Media Workroom (in addition to the press box) is located at Charlotte ÊÊ In 2014, led the Rays staff with 32 starts and 194.2 IP. Sports Park on the first floor of the building located beyond the right field ÊÊ Pitched to a 2.77 ERA (149.1-IP, 46-ER) over his last 24 starts, starting fence that houses the Rays clubhouse and executive offices. May 16…pitched to a 5.16 ERA (45.1-IP, 26-ER) in 8 starts before that. Media Dining is located behind the press box...the Rays serve a meal Ê Ê Made 16 starts allowing 1 ER or fewer, tying ’ club re- prior to all home games at Charlotte Sports Park at a cost of $8. cord (2011) and tying SEA Felix Hernandez and KC Danny Duffy for the AL lead. Daily Credentials must be requested at credentials.mlb.com at least 24 ÊÊ Set a club record and ranked 5th in the AL with a 0.55 HR/9 IP ratio, hours in advance…credentials can be picked up at the reception desk with only 12 HR in 194.2 IP…half of those 12 HR came in his final 6 located in the entrance of the Rays Clubhouse Building until 3 hours starts, after yielding only 6 HR in his first 26 starts…his .336 opp SLG before first pitch, after which point they must be picked up at Guest Ser- ranked 6th in the AL and 3rd in club history, behind (.318 vices near the box office. in 2012) and Cobb (.325 in 2014). ÊÊ The Rays went 15-8 when he lasted 6 innings or more, and 2-7 when he RAYSPRESSBOX.COM & RaysPressbox.com is a private, media-only website that serves as a failed to do so…since the start of 2013, those marks are 27-9 and 4-15. central location for all Rays media information. Content includes 2015 ÊÊ Was involved in four 1-0 games: April 8 at KC (won, ND), May 23 vs. Media Guide PDF files, press releases, game notes, statistics and other BOS (won, ND), June 3 at MIA (lost) and Sep 26 at CLE (lost). gameday documents as well as daily audio and video clips. ÊÊ According to FanGraphs, averaged 94.6 mph on his , 3rd hard- est among AL qualifiers behind KC Yordano Ventura (97.0) and LAA Username: media | Password: r@ys2015 Garrett Richards (96.3). Media are also encouraged to follow the private @RaysPressbox ÊÊ On April 2, 2014, signed an eight-year contract extension with the first Twitter account to be notified of all media alerts. six years guaranteed (2014-19) and club options for 2020 and 2021. RAYS COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT INFO 2015 SPRING INNINGS PLAYED (“A” GAMES)—Acosta (3-C), Beckham Charlotte Sports Park, 2300 El Jobean Rd., Port Charlotte, FL 33948 (5-2B, 4-SS), Belnome (7-1B), Brett (11-2B), Brown (9-LF), Butler (4-LF, Main Number, Rays Office (941) 235-5025 6-RF), Cabrera (4-SS, 5-DH), Casali (4-C), Casilla (3-2B, 5-3B), DeJesus Communications Department (941) 235-5044 (7-LF), Dykstra (5-1B), Elmore (5-2B), Forsythe (6-1B), Francisco (10-3B), Press Box (941) 235-5082 Franklin (3-2B, 5-SS), Guyer (5-LF), Jaso (9-DH), Jennings (5-LF, 5-CF), Ki- Rick Vaughn, Vice President [email protected] ermaier (8-CF), Lee (5-SS, 4-DH), Loney (9-1B), Longoria (9-3B), Mahtook Cell – (727) 439-0671 (9-CF), Maile (4-C, 4-DH), Motter (7-RF), O’Conner (5-C, 2-DH), Powell (6- Dave Haller, Sr. Director [email protected] LF), Rivera (5-C), Robertson (3-SS), Souza Jr. (5-CF, 5-RF), Velez (3-3B, Cell – (727) 773-6904 6-SS), Wilson (5-C, 3-DH). Carli Todd, Sr. Coordinator [email protected] (handles credential requests) Cell – (732) 606-3915 SPRING TRANSACTIONS— Dukes Knutson, Press Box Attendant Mar 5 Signed RH Jim Miller to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training. 2015 SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE DAY DATE OPPONENT SITE R/TV TIME/SCORE W-L WP LP ATT Thu March 5 Baltimore Charlotte County M L, 2-3 0-1-0 Davies (1-0) Zarate (0-1) 4,884 Fri March 6 Minnesota Charlotte County M W, 2-1 1-1-0 Norberto (1-0) Achter (0-1) 4,158 Sat March 7 @Pittsburgh Bradenton R T, 1-1 (10) 1-1-1 — — 8,303 Sun March 8 Philadelphia Charlotte County R 1:05 p.m. Mon March 9 @ Tampa 1:05 p.m. Tue March 10 Pittsburgh Charlotte County M 1:05 p.m. @ Fort Myers 1:05 p.m. Wed March 11 @Minnesota Lee County 1:05 p.m. Thu March 12 Toronto Charlotte County M 1:05 p.m. Fri March 13 @Philadelphia Clearwater 1:05 p.m. Sat March 14 @Baltimore Sarasota R 1:05 p.m. Sun March 15 Charlotte County R 1:05 p.m. Mon March 16 OPEN DATE Tue March 17 @Philadelphia Clearwater 1:05 p.m. Wed March 18 @Toronto Dunedin 1:07 p.m. Thu March 19 Minnesota Charlotte County M/T 1:05 p.m. Fri March 20 Toronto Charlotte County M 1:05 p.m. Sat March 21 Minnesota Charlotte County R 1:05 p.m. Sun March 22 @Toronto Dunedin R 12:37 p.m. Mon March 23 Pittsburgh Charlotte County M 1:05 p.m. Tue March 24 OPEN DATE Wed March 25 @Minnesota Lee County 1:05 p.m. Thu March 26 New York Yankees Charlotte County M/T 1:05 p.m. Fri March 27 @Baltimore Sarasota 1:05 p.m. Sat March 28 Boston Charlotte County R/T 1:05 p.m. Sun March 29 @Boston Fort Myers R 1:05 p.m. Mon March 30 Baltimore Charlotte Sports Park M 1:05 p.m. Tue March 31 Boston Charlotte Sports Park M 1:05 p.m. @Baltimore Sarasota 1:05 p.m. Wed April 1 @New York Yankees Tampa 1:05 p.m. Thu April 2 @Philadelphia Clearwater 1:05 p.m. Fri April 3 @Detroit Lakeland 1:05 p.m. Sat April 4 Detroit Tropicana Field R/T 12:35 p.m. Home Games in Bold (R) Rays Radio Network (T) Sun Sports (M) MLB.com Radio