Rays: Coming home; Maddon embraces iPad aid

Rays vs. A's

When/where: 7:10 tonight; Tropicana Field

TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)

Tickets: $14-$210, available at Tropicana Field box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team Tampa store; $3 surcharge within 5 hours of game time.

Probable pitchers

Rays: RH Alex Cobb (1-1, 1.93)

A's: LH Brett Anderson (1-2, 4.34)

Alex the Great: He is coming off a loss at Boston but is 8-2 with a 2.89 ERA over his past 13 starts. He is 2-1, 3.66 in three starts vs. the A's.

Another B.A.: He is 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts against the Rays, but he hasn't faced them since August 2010. He returned from elbow ligament-replacement surgery to make six starts last season.

Key matchups

Rays vs. Anderson

Shelley Duncan 0-for-6

Evan Longoria 2-for-8, HR

Jose Molina 2-for-5

A's vs. Cobb

Coco Crisp 3-for-7

Josh Reddick 0-for-7

Seth Smith 1-for-6

On deck

Saturday: vs. A's, 7:10, Sun Sports. Rays — Jeremy Hellickson (0-1, 4.91); A's – Jarrod Parker 0-2, 10.80

Marc Topkin. Times staff writer

Quote of the day

"It's only been 11 days? Yeah, we're ready to get back."

Joe Maddon, Rays manager, on finally reaching the end of the three-city road trip

iPad app of the day

Manager Joe Maddon has plenty of people offering to help him write out the lineup every day. But now he actually is getting help: using an iPad app from Penultimate. With the app, he can write out the lineup by hand using a stylus and email it to bullpen coach Stan Boroski, who transfers it to the various official forms it is posted on. The app allows Maddon to attach pictures; Thursday it was of the Jordan Winery in California.

Stat of the day

29

Consecutive games in which 3B Evan Longoria has reached base, 10 shy of Johnny Damon's 2011 team mark.