Rays' Myers to use off day to find apartment, clothes

ST. PETERSBURG — Rookie OF Wil Myers can definitely use today's off day.

To find a place to live, to buy some new clothes, just to catch his breath after an 11-day whirlwind that started with him being pulled from Triple-A Durham's June 16 game and told of his promotion to the Rays, debuting in Boston and playing in New York, then making a smashing first appearance at the Trop.

"It'll be nice," Myers said. "These (11) days have been kind of crazy."

Myers made arrangements to rent a car until next weekend, when his girlfriend drives his car down from North Carolina. His first order of business today will be to find an apartment for the rest of the season so he can get out of the hotel where he has been staying. Then it's off to the mall for new clothes — "I didn't bring that much," he said — plus something for the team's "Accidental Preppie"-themed trip to Houston.

Not that the 22-year-old's complaining.

"It's been fun," he said. "It's a great time, obviously. It's awesome."

CATCHING ON: With Jose Molina already out of the 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday and Jose Lobaton being attended to after being hit on the back of the head by Adam Lind's bat, Sean Rodriguez was quickly getting ready for a potential pro debut behind the plate in the ninth inning.

"I definitely was," said Rodriguez, who last caught in a game in high school but has done work in the bullpen. "I tried to go over quickly with (pitching coach Jim) Hickey what Jamey (Wright's) pitch sequences were."

Assistant athletic trainer Paul Harker asked Lobaton a series of questions and eventually determined he was okay to stay in the game.

"I wanted to get that inning under my belt," Rodriguez said. "It would've been something for everybody to kind of smile about with a game like that, (R.A.) Dickey throwing as well as he did, but it was good to see (Lobaton) was all right."

Manager Joe Maddon said he figured Lobaton would be okay.

"Sean was ready to go, man," Maddon said. "I was out there telling 'Loby,' 'You realize Sean is next; how do you feel?' I was just trying to get him to smile. He definitely was shaken in the beginning. That (bat) hit him firmly."

Maddon confirmed that Myers, who caught two seasons in the Royals' minor-league system, would be the second emergency catcher.

FUTURE STARS: Two of the Rays' top young pitching prospects were selected for the July 14 All-Star Futures Game at New York's Citi Field: right-hander Taylor Guerrieri, who is 5-2, 2.29 at Class A Bowling Green, will pitch for the U.S. team and left-hander Enny Romero, who is 7-3, 2.92 for Double-A Montgomery, for the World team.

REHAB REPORT: RHP Brandon Gomes, out since early May with a lat strain, is scheduled to make his second rehabilitation appearance tonight, throwing one inning for advanced Class A Charlotte. He will then throw in a Gulf Coast League game Saturday and be re-evaluated Sunday. He could rejoin the Rays in Houston on Monday.

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COACH HURT: Class A Charlotte pitching coach Bill Moloney was struck in the forehead with a foul ball during Wednesday's game against Bradenton and went to the hospital as a precaution, manager Brady Williams said. Moloney was in the back of the dugout talking to a pitcher when he was hit by the liner but got up on his own, stayed the rest of the game and is expected to be okay, Williams said. "Obviously he wasn't himself, but he was still grouchy as always, which is normal," Williams said. "That was scary. Honestly I'm glad it hit him in the forehead, because if it hits him anywhere else, who knows what happens?"

MISCELLANY: With the season series 5-5, the Rays have already lost more games to the Blue Jays than last year. They haven't lost a season series since 2006. … The last time the Rays had a complete game thrown against them with two or fewer hits was Felix Hernandez's Aug. 15, 2012, perfect game in Seattle. … Camp Day attendance at the Trop was 21,502.

Times staff writer Joe Smith contributed to this report.