Tampa Bay Rays news and notes

Looking out for No. 1

With three overall No. 1 picks in Rays camp — Pat Burrell (1998), David Price (2007) and Tim Beckham (2008) — ESPN's Jayson Stark was in the right place to discuss the pressure facing Washington's Stephen Strasburg. "If he wanted to come by," manager Joe Maddon said, "we have a lot of guys that could talk to him about what he's going through." Not that Maddon is going to be all that sympathetic: "You know what, if you've got 17 million bucks in the bank, that should reduce some of the pressure, shouldn't it?"

The dish

Rays vs. Pirates

When/where: 1:05, Charlotte Sports Park, 2300 El Jobean Road, Port Charlotte.

Tickets: Available in all categories, see info below.

Gates open: 11 a.m.

Directions: Driving time from the bay area is 1½-2 hours. Suggested route: 1-75 south to Exit 179 (North Port/Port Charlotte). Turn right (west) on Toledo Blade Road. Go about 6½ miles (crossing U.S. 41) to El Jobean Road (SR 776). Turn right. Go about 2 miles, complex will be on the left.

Parking: $10, lots open at 10.

Rays information: 1-888-326-7297 (FAN-RAYS)

Pitchers: Rays — Matt Garza, Lance Cormier, Alex Torres, Jeff Bennett, Mike Ekstrom; Pirates — Brad Lincoln, Brian Bass, Jeff Karstens, Jack Taschner, Jean Machi, Evan Meek

Heads-up

With the Pirates in town, the Rays may have a chance to see former teammate 2B Akinori Iwamura, who was traded at the end of the season.

On deck

Tuesday: at Orioles, Sarasota, 1:05. Rays: Jeff Niemann; Orioles: Chris Tillman

Rays schedule

Tickets: Reserved seats $18-25, berm/boardwalk $8 Mon-Thurs./$10 Fri-Sun available for all games but March 19 vs. Yankees. Available through raysbaseball.com and Ticketmaster, at Tropicana Field and Charlotte Sports Park box offices and Tampa team store.

MARCH

8: Pirates

9: at Orioles

10: at Red Sox

11: at Pirates (ss)

11: Blue Jays (ss)

12: Phillies

13: Marlins

14: at Tigers

16: Red Sox, 7:05

17: Twins

18: at Yankees, 7:05

19: Yankees, 7:05

20: Twins

21: at Twins (ss)

21: at Pirates (ss)

22: at Red Sox

23: at Phillies

24: Blue Jays

25: Twins

26: at Blue Jays

27: at Astros

28: Pirates

29: at Red Sox, 7:05

30: Red Sox

31: at Twins

APRIL

1: Orioles

2: Mets at Tropicana Field, 6:10

Marc Topkin, Times staff writer

Quote of the day

"I wouldn't say I 'blew a fastball by him' — I think he missed it."

James Shields, on his admittedly pumped up strikeout of Phillies star Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded Sunday

Number of the day

10,474 Record Clearwater spring training crowd for Sunday's game

Alternative career of the day

Joe Maddon can be a bit flowery. And in a conversation that started with how he prefers the Rays growing their own players, Maddon revealed his "green" side, with an interest in plants and lawn care. "I should have been an agronomy major at some point," he said.