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The Rays (11-11) are finally back in action today after getting two days off -- a rarity in baseball's 162-game schedule, afforded only by yesterday's rain out. The pitching rotation will resume its normal schedule with Wade Davis looking to follow James Shields's impressive performance on Sunday.
Toeing the mound for the Minnesota Twins (9-12) will be lefty Francisco Liriano, who had an impressive season last year, going 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA and a 2.66 fielding independent pitching mark. This year has not been as kind to Liriano, who is now 1-3 with a 7.40 ERA. He did, however, have better results in his last outing -- 6.1 innings and 3 earned runs -- though his process may have been off somewhat -- 2 strikeouts, but 5 walks and 2 homers.
The Rays starting lineup features manager Joe Maddon's typical assortment of lefty-mashing hitters, with the only wrinkle being the surprising appearance of B.J. Upton -- who has been struggling of late -- in the three-hole. The lineup per MLB.com:
Sam Fuld, LF
Johnny Damon, DH
B.J. Upton, CF
Ben Zobrist, RF
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Felipe Lopez, 3B
Kelly Shoppach, C
Dan Johnson, 1B
Reid Brignac, SS
Here's some things I'm watching for:
- Two Dan Johnson home runs.
- That is all.