TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015 at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES RH Alex Cobb Vs

HOT STOVE THURSDAY—OF Kevin Kiermaier and hitting coach Derek SUNDAY’S ACTION—The Rays cruised TODAY’S STARTING LINEUP Shelton will be guests on this week’s edition of the Hot Stove radio show, to an 8-4 win over the Mets after grabbing 39 Kevin Kiermaier (L) CF airing on WDAE 620 AM from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday live from Hooters (1360 a 5-0 lead through 2 innings…in the 7th, 21 James Loney (L) 1B Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte, FL 33948)…hosts Dave Wills and Andy PH Allan Dykstra and 3B Juan Francis- 13 Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS Freed will be joined by Neil Solondz. co connected for back-to-back homers… 3 Evan Longoria (R) 3B starter RH Matt Andriese threw 3 score- 8 Desmond Jennings (R) LF BASEBALL GALA—This Friday, the BaseBALL Gala, benefiting the Boys less innings (4-H, 1-BB, 1-SO, 42 pitches) 20 Steven Souza Jr. (R) RF 44 Rene Rivera (R) C and Girls Clubs of Charlotte County, will be held at the Charlotte Harbor to pick up the win…DH John Jaso hit a 11 Logan Forsythe (R) DH Event and Conference Center…Rays in attendance will include Manager 2-run double…SS Nick Franklin went 83 Jake Elmore (R) 2B Kevin Cash and the coaching staff, LH Jake McGee, RH Kevin Jepsen, 2-for-3 with 1 RBI, 2 runs scored and 1 53 Alex Cobb RHP OF Steven Souza Jr. and LH Jeff Beliveau…the event starts at 5:30 p.m. SB…3B Evan Longoria went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI…CF Steven Souza Jr. recorded 2 RAYS IN COMING MONDAY TO CLEARWATER—“Pitch,” a new speaker series for outfield assists in only 4 innings: one at SPRING TRAINING baseball lovers, is coming to Ruth Eckerd Hall on Monday, March 23…the the plate, and one at 2B. 2015 5-6-1 31,007 all spring training edition features panels on the Rays, Phillies, Yankees and ÊÊ Yesterday, RH Jake Odorizzi threw 2014 16-7-4 78,264 Blue Jays, including Andy Freed and Dewayne Staats on the Rays side… in a minor league intrasquad game 2013 15-17-2 90,935 2012 10-16-6 87,916 visit rutheckerdhall.com for tickets, and pitchtalksbaseball.com for more info. and recorded 13 outs over 4 innings 2011 15-14-2 95,859 of work…totaled 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2010 20-8-2 97,971 CLEARWATER TURNS 100—The Rays are wearing a patch to celebrate 2 BB, 3 SO, 61 pitches, 37 strikes. 2009 15-16-1 103,255 the Clearwater centennial (1915–2015) for all three of their games in Clear- 2008 18-8-2 54,960 water this spring…the Phillies are wearing the same patch all spring. LONGO THE LEADER—The longest-ten- 2007 10-19-2 79,044 ured current member of the Rays, 3B Evan 2006 13-16-1 70,756 SURGE OF OFFENSE—The Rays have won 4 of their last 5 games, af- Longoria, is the franchise’s career leader 2005 13-16 61,261 ter beginning the spring 1-5-1…during these 5 games—which began with with 184 HR, 635 RBI, .494 SLG and 48 2004 11-8 43,916 Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Twins in Fort Myers—the Rays offense has sac flies…entering 2015, he needs only 2003 8-19-3 51,324 2002 10-16-1 49,043 come to life, batting .287 (50-for-174) with 27 runs scored (5.4 per game) 4 2B to break Ben Zobrist’s club record 2001 12-15-1 57,081 and 6 HR…prior to that, the Rays offense had hit only .188 (42-for-224) with (229) and 3 extra-base hits to pass Carl 2000 14-17 67,089 2 HR and 16 runs scored in 7 games (2.3 R/G)…these 5 games have raised Crawford’s team mark (424)…he needs 1999 14-14-1 59,230 the team’s spring batting avg. from .188 to .231. 25 hits to reach 1,000 for his career…he 1998 12-18 66,781 ÊÊ Despite the improvement, the Rays still have the majors’ 2nd-lowest also enters 2015 with the majors’ longest Total 231-250-29 1,246,052 batting avg. (.231) and OBP (.284), leading only the Phillies in each active streak of games started, at 169. category (.226 avg., .281 OBP)…their 43 runs scored are 2nd fewest in the majors to the Pirates (35). THAT TIME OF THE SPRING—On Sunday, the Rays made their second ÊÊ In Sunday’s 8-4 win over the Mets, the Rays scored 6 runs in the first wave of cuts to the spring training roster…they optioned INF Ryan Brett, 4 innings…prior to that, they had scored only 4 runs all spring in the RH Jose Dominguez, LH Grayson Garvin, INF Hak-Ju Lee and C Jus- first 4 innings in 11 games. tin O’Conner to the minor leagues, and reassigned RH Dylan Floro, C ÊÊ Seven of the Rays first 12 games have been decided by one run Luke Maile and LH Robert Zarate to minor league camp…this trimmed the (2-5), and one ended in a tie (March 7 at PIT)…the Rays are 4-6-1 spring roster to 54 players (28-P, 5-C, 12-INF, 9-OF)…32 of the 40 players despite outscoring their opponents, 43-36. on the current roster made their Rays debut in 2012 or later.

RUN PREVENTION—The Rays lead all major league teams with a 2.38 ERA SEVEN YEARS AS THE RAYS (2008-14)—Since changing their name (106-IP, 28-ER)—33 points better than any other club (Yankees, 2.71)…only to the Rays in 2008, the Rays are 627-508 (.552) in the regular season, one staff has yielded fewer home runs than the Rays (5): the Cardinals (4). fourth-best record in the majors after the Yankees (.571), Angels (.554) and ÊÊ The Rays have committed 17 errors this spring, most in the Grape- Cardinals (.554)…the Rays have won 90-plus games five times, most in the fruit League…they’ve erred only once in the last 4 games, after com- majors in this span…they have advanced to the postseason four times; only mitting 16 in their first 8 games. the Cardinals (five) have been more often. ÊÊ The Rays pitching staff has allowed only 4,536 runs, fewest by an SLICE OF GRAPEFRUIT—Today is the seventh of 16 road games this AL team over a span of seven full seasons since 1974-80 (Orioles spring…the Rays also play 14 home games at Charlotte Sports Park and one 4,271; Yankees 4,353)…they have thrown 96 shutouts, most by an home game at Tropicana Field (April 4 vs. DET)…this is the Rays 18th spring AL team over a seven-year span since the 1975-81 Yankees (also in the Grapefruit League and seventh calling Charlotte Sports Park home… 96)…they achieved all this while starting a pitcher under the age of the 2014 Rays recorded the best spring record in the majors at 16-7-4 (.696), 30 in 93.5 pct. of their games (1,062 of 1,135). their third Grapefruit League title in a span of 7 seasons (also 2008, 2010). ÊÊ Since becoming the Rays in 2008, CLEAN SLATE—The Rays enter their first season under Manager Kevin the team has recorded at least 15 BEST RECORDS, MLB, Cash, and also with Matt Silverman at the head of the Baseball Opera- wins in six out of seven spring train- SPRING TRAINING, 2008-15 tions department…Silverman assumed his role of President, Baseball Op- ings—something they never did in 10 Kansas City 132-93 .587 erations on Oct 14, and he hired Cash as the fifth manager in Rays history springs as the Devil Rays…the Rays LA Angels 130-96 .575 on Dec 5…they succeeded Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman, whose have compiled a 114-92 (.553) spring Detroit 128-101 .559 nine years together made them the longest-tenured manager/GM pairing in record during this span, 4th best in Tampa Bay 114-92 .553 baseball…Cash is the youngest current manager or head coach in the ma- NY Yankees 122-99 .552 the majors (see chart). jor four sports; Celtics head coach Brad Stevens (38) is the runner-up…on Opening Day, Cash (at 37 years, 120 days) will be the youngest manager COMEBACK CORNER—LH Jake McGee (offseason left shoulder sur- in MLB since ARI A.J. Hinch, who debuted on May 8, 2009 (34y, 358d). gery) is expected to throw his first bullpen today…RH Grant Balfour is expected to throw to hitters today, including OF Brandon Guyer (oblique)… UPCOMING PROBABLES—Today at PHI LH Drew Smyly (left shoulder tendinitis) threw from 90 feet yesterday, is off ÊÊ TB—RH Alex Cobb (start), LH Mike Montgomery, LH C.J. Riefen- today and will throw again tomorrow. hauser, RH Steve Geltz, RH Andrew Bellatti, RH Bryce Stowell, LH Everett Teaford RAYS vs. PHILLIES—The Rays are 0-2 vs. the Phillies this spring, losing 2-1 ÊÊ PHI—RH Jerome Williams (start), RH David Buchanan, RH Ken on Friday in Clearwater and 5-4 on March 8 at home…3 of the 4 scheduled Giles, RH Phillippe Aumont, RH Nefi Ogando meetings this spring take place at Bright House Field, as the Rays return here Wed., March 18 at TOR, 1:07 p.m. on April 2)…last spring the Rays won their only bout with the Phillies, 6-1, at ÊÊ TB—RH Chris Archer (start), LH Jeff Beliveau, RH Jim Miller, RH home on March 3…the Rays did not visit Bright House Field in 2014. Brandon Gomes, RH Jhan Marinez ÊÊ The clubs will meet July 20-22 at Citizens Bank Park, their first meet- ÊÊ TOR—LH Mark Buehrle (start), LH Aaron Loup, RH Steve Delabar, ing since June 23-24, 2012, when the Rays won 2 of 3 games in LH Jeff Francis, RH Wilton Lopez, RH Kyle Drabek Philly—including a doubleheader sweep on June 24…the Rays are Thu., March 19 vs. MIN, 1:05 p.m. 14-7 (.667) all-time against the Phillies in the regular season, tied for ÊÊ TB—RH Nathan Karns (start), RH Kevin Jepsen, RH Brad Boxberg- their best mark against any opponent (6-3 vs. Cubs, 6-3 vs. Brew- er, LH Jordan Norberto, RH Kirby Yates ers)…they are 6-3 at Tropicana Field and 8-4 in Philadelphia. ÊÊ MIN—TBA TODAY’S RAYS STARTER—RH Alex Cobb ÊÊ 2015 Spring: 0-0, 6.23 ERA (2-IP, 0-ER) in 2 starts CHARLOTTE SPORTS PARK MEDIA INFORMATION Ê Ê 2014 with Rays: 10-9, 2.87 ERA (166.1-IP, 53-ER) in 27 starts Pregame Media Schedule (all 1:05 games) Ê Ê Makes his third start of the spring…on Thu vs. TOR, threw 47 pitch- Clubhouse opens to media 8:00 a.m. es, 30 strikes over 2.1 innings, yielding a 2-run single to his final bat- Kevin Cash available (manager’s office) 9:15 a.m. ter faced, 3B Josh Donaldson…the Rays rallied back with an 8-run Rays stretch 9:30 a.m. 5th inning and won 10-3. Rays batting practice 10:15 a.m. Ê Ê On March 7 at PIT, threw only 23 pitches (17 strikes) over 2 score- Visitors batting practice 11:15 a.m. less innings (1-H, 2-SO), allowing just a double to Gregory Polanco. ÊÊ Enters the season as the Rays No. 1 starter, after opening the 2014 2015 Rays Media Guides are available digitally on RaysPressbox.com season in the No. 2 slot and the 2013 season in the No. 5 slot. and MLBPressbox.com…see a member of the Communications staff to ÊÊ At 27 years, 5 months, is already the senior member of the Rays request a hard copy. starting rotation. Parking is available to media on the grass directly behind the paved lots ÊÊ Has spent parts of four seasons in the majors, but is still seeking his of the main ballpark entrance...media parking is free to those with spring first fully healthy season at this level…was sidelined by a left oblique training credentials...please see the Communications staff for a pass if strain for more than a month in 2014, and missed 50 games with a you plan to cover a large number of games. concussion in 2013 after getting beaned by a line drive. ÊÊ Is the only AL pitcher with 10-plus wins, a winning record and a sub- Rays Clubhouse will open at 8 a.m. on most days and close at 9 a.m. 3.00 ERA in each of the last two seasons…the only NL pitchers who …it will re-open after workouts and batting practice on game days and can make this claim are LAD Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, when necessary in-game. STL Adam Wainwright and SF Madison Bumgarner. ÊÊ In 2014, his 2.87 ERA ranked 6th in the AL and 4th in club history… Media Workroom (in addition to the press box) is located at Charlotte after the All-Star break posted a 1.79 ERA (90.1-IP, 18-ER) over 14 Sports Park on the first floor of the building located beyond the right field starts, 4th-lowest mark in the majors and breaking David Price’s club fence that houses the Rays clubhouse and executive offices. record of 2.27 in his Cy Young season of 2012. Media Dining is located behind the press box...the Rays serve a meal Ê Ê Held opponents to a .619 OPS, 4th lowest in the AL. prior to all home games at Charlotte Sports Park at a cost of $8. Day-by-Day W/L IP H R ER BB SO HR HB WP Result Daily Credentials must be requested at credentials.mlb.com at least 24 3/7 at PIT — 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 T, 1-1 (10) hours in advance…credentials can be picked up at the reception desk 3/12 vs. TOR — 2.1 5 3 3 1 4 0 0 0 W, 10-3 located in the entrance of the Rays Clubhouse Building until 3 hours before first pitch, after which point they must be picked up at Guest Ser- 2015 SPRING INNINGS PLAYED (“A” GAMES)—Acosta (7-C, 3-DH), vices near the box office. Beckham (16-2B, 20-SS), Belnome (28-1B), Brett (22-2B), Brown (24-LF, 2-CF, 5-RF, 2-DH), Butler (9-LF, 26-RF, 9-DH), Cabrera (11-2B, 18-SS, RAYSPRESSBOX.COM & TWITTER 5-DH), Carter (2-RF), Casali (23-C), Casilla (23-2B, 8-3B), Coyle (3-2B), RaysPressbox.com is a private, media-only website that serves as a DeJesus (17-LF, 16-RF), Dykstra (17-1B, 5-DH), Elmore (18-2B, 6-3B, central location for all Rays media information. Content includes 2015 8-SS, 6-RF), Forsythe (8-1B, 3-2B, 14-3B, 6-DH), Francisco (13-1B, 15-3B, Media Guide PDF files, press releases, game notes, statistics and other 1-DH), Franklin (14-2B, 18-SS, 9-DH), Gantt (1-LF), Guyer (5-LF), Jaso gameday documents as well as daily audio and video clips. (11-LF, 26-DH), Jennings (17-LF, 11-CF), Kiermaier (32-CF, 6-DH), Lee (22- Username: media | Password: r@ys2015 SS, 4-DH), Loney (32-1B), Longoria (33-3B), Mahtook (3-LF, 31-CF, 3-RF), Media are also encouraged to follow the private @RaysPressbox Maile (14-C, 13-DH), Motter (1-1B, 8-3B, 9-LF, 16-RF), O’Conner (10-C, Twitter account to be notified of all media alerts. 7-DH), Powell (6-LF, 15-CF), Rickard (3-LF), Rivera (27-C), Robertson (1- 3B, 12-SS), Shaffer (7-3B), Souza Jr. (6-1B, 14-CF, 22-RF), Velez (9-3B, RAYS COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT INFO 6-SS, 9-LF), Wilson (23-C, 9-DH). Charlotte Sports Park, 2300 El Jobean Rd., Port Charlotte, FL 33948

SPRING TRANSACTIONS— Main Number, Rays Office (941) 235-5025 Mar 5 Signed RH Jim Miller to a minor league contract with an invita- Communications Department (941) 235-5044 tion to major league spring training. Press Box (941) 235-5082 Mar 10 Signed LH Jonny Venters to a minor league contract. Rick Vaughn, Vice President [email protected] Mar 12 Reassigned INF Daniel Robertson and OF Boog Powell to mi- Cell – (727) 439-0671 nor league camp. Dave Haller, Sr. Director [email protected] Mar 15 Optioned RH Jose Dominguez and INF Hak-Ju Lee to the mi- Cell – (727) 773-6904 nor leagues…reassigned RH Dylan Floro, C Luke Maile and LH Carli Todd, Sr. Coordinator [email protected] Robert Zarate to minor league camp. (handles credential requests) Cell – (732) 606-3915 Mar 16 Optioned INF Ryan Brett, LH Grayson Garvin and C Justin Dukes Knutson, Press Box Attendant O’Conner to the minor leagues.

2015 TAMPA BAY RAYS 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 L, 4-5 1-2-1 Slowey (2-0) Archer (0-1) 5,837 Mon March 9 @New York Yankees Tampa L, 3-4 1-3-1 Pineda (1-0) Karns (0-1) 9,821 Tue March 10 Pittsburgh Charlotte County M L, 3-4 1-4-1 Beckman (1-0) Romero (0-1) 3,989 @Boston Fort Myers L, 1-5 1-5-1 Masterson (1-0) Andriese (0-1) 10,156 Wed March 11 @Minnesota Lee County W, 5-2 2-5-1 Dominguez (1-0) Thielbar (0-1) 7,454 Thu March 12 Toronto Charlotte County M W, 10-3 3-5-1 Gomes (1-0) Estrada (0-1) 5,776 Fri March 13 @Philadelphia Clearwater L, 1-2 3-6-1 Biddle (1-0) Archer (0-2) 9,338 Sat March 14 @Baltimore Sarasota R W, 3-2 4-6-1 Karns (1-1) Berry (0-1) 8,219 Sun March 15 New York Mets Charlotte County R W, 8-4 5-6-1 Andriese (1-1) Colon (0-2) 6,363 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