Tampa Bay Rays: David Price, James Shields enjoy getting pranked; Hideki Matsui could face Dice-K in Triple-A game this week

Rays at Blue Jays

When/where: 7:07 tonight; Rogers Centre, Toronto

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

Probable pitchers

Rays: LH David Price (5-2, 2.98)

Jays: RH Henderson Alvarez (3-2, 2.61)

On Price: Struggled some vs. Yankees last week, but facing Toronto usually makes him better. Is 4-0, 3.41 in five starts at Rogers Centre, including a 14-K game last year, 10-2, 2.13 overall vs. Jays.

On Alvarez: The hard-throwing 22-year-old has been on a roll, posting a 0.81 ERA over his past three starts, but he has had trouble with the Rays, going 0-2, 7.30 in two games, allowing 10 runs.

Key matchups

Rays VS. ALVAREZ

D. Jennings 3-for-7, 2 HRs

Matt Joyce 1-for-5

Ben Zobrist 1-for-5

Jays VS. PRICE

Jose Bautista10-for-28, 4 HRs

E. Encarnacion5-for-21, HR

Adam Lind 6-for-33

On deck

Wednesday: vs. Red Sox, 7:10, Sun Sports. Rays — Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 2.95); Red Sox — Clay Buchholz (4-1, 8.31)

Thursday: vs. Red Sox, 7:10, Sun Sports. Rays — Matt Moore (1-3, 5.31), Red Sox — Felix Doubront (3-1, 4.46)

Friday: vs. Braves, 7:10, Sun Sports. Rays — James Shields (6-1, 3.52); Braves — Tommy Hanson (4-3, 3.43)

Rays disabled list

1B/OF Brandon Allen, right quad strain, 15-day

C Robinson Chirinos, concussion, 60-day

RHP Kyle Farnsworth, right elbow strain, 60-day

OF Sam Fuld, right wrist surgery, 60-day

OF Desmond Jennings, left knee sprain, 15-day

C Jose Lobaton, right shoulder soreness, 15-day

3B Evan Longoria, left hamstring tear, 15-day

Marc Topkin, Times staff writer

It's all fun till somebody gets pranked

RHP James Shields and LHP David Price admitted they still had a good time even though they were on the wrong side of a prank during last week's visit to the MLB Fan Cave. They were encouraged to do increasingly silly stunts under the guise of taping a promo for MLB, with teammate Sean Rodriguez in on the prank. Visit tampabay.com/blogs/rays.

International incident waiting to happen

OF/DH Hideki Matsui's arrival in Durham today will be a big enough deal, as he starts playing for the Bulls to work his way into form after signing a minor-league deal. If he plays Thursday, it will be headline news — at least in Japan — as the scheduled starter for Pawtucket is rehabbing major-leaguer Daisuke Matsuzaka. Many Japanese media are expected in Durham for the event.

Number of the day

7 Rays players on the DL