Rays at Phillies
When/where: 7:05 tonight; Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)
Probable pitchers
Rays: RH James Shields (7-4, 3.72)
Phillies: LH Cliff Lee (0-3, 3.48)
On Shields: After going 0-3 with a 5.92 ERA in a four-game stretch, Shields has allowed one earned run in his past two starts. A problem is the majors-high 12 unearned runs he has allowed. He beat the Phillies in 2006 and in the 2008 World Series.
On Lee: One of the more amazing stats of the year is that Lee does not have a win through 11 starts. He has been tough on the Rays, going 6-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 13 regular-season starts, plus 2-0, 1.13 in the 2010 playoffs.
Key matchups
Rays VS. Lee
Hideki Matsui 8-for-29
Carlos Peña 8-for-42, 3 HR
Ben Zobrist 7-for-20, HR
Phillies VS. Shields
Placido Polanco 8-for-17, 2 HR
Jim Thome 8-for-27, HR
Ty Wigginton 5-for-12, 2 HR
On deck
Saturday: at Phillies, 4:05, Sun Sports. Rays — Alex Cobb (3-3, 3.82); Phillies — Kyle Kendrick (2-7, 5.29)
Sunday: at Phillies, 1:35, Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (9-4, 3.08); Phillies — Cole Hamels (10-3, 3.25)
Political statement
LHP David Price visited the White House on Thursday to appear with Vice President Joe Biden for the announcement of a public-service announcement about dating violence against women, filling in for injured teammate Evan Longoria, who appears in the video. "Outside of political beliefs, I did this because I feel this is something everybody should abide by," Price said. "It doesn't matter who's trying to push this point across, this is something everybody should jump on board with."
Political favorites
LHP David Price, below right, on separate occasions has now met President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Biden, below left. He said his favorite was the first lady, who went to Baltimore's Camden Yards a couple of years ago to promote her youth activity program and received an impromptu pitching lesson from Price. "The coolest was meeting Michelle in my own environment," he said. "We weren't around a bunch of guys in suits with wires in their ears. We were on a baseball field. … It was fun to see her interact with the kids, and with us. That was a lot of fun."
Stat of the day
38
Unearned runs allowed by the Rays, one more than all last season
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