UPDATE, 5:56: Yandy Diaz was scratched from the Rays lineup after taking some swings and finding it too painful on his left hand, which was hit by a pitch Sunday in New York. Cash said the Rays are confident after additional testing confirmed the initial x-rays that he does not have a fracture and they are hopeful he could possibly be available to pinch hit. Ji-Man Choi took over at first.
Cash said injured catchers Mike Zunino (quad) and Michael Perez (oblique) are doing well and could start rehab assignments sometime next week. ... Pitcher Tyler Glasnow (forearm strain) said he is “optimistic” about his progress though has only thrown a tennis ball, likely to advance in the next week to playing catch.
Here is the new Rays lineup:
Meadows dh
Pham lf
Choi 1b
Garcia rf
D’Arnaud c
Lowe 2b
Robertson 3b
Heredia cf
Adames ss
Wood p
DEVELOPING: The Rays open a brief, to put it mildly, two-game homestand tonight against the Dodgers, and they’ll have the added challenge of facing three-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw, who will be making his first career start at the Trop.
The Rays wrapped a five-game, six-day roadtrip in New York on Sunday, then after having Monday off play two games against the Dodgers and leave after Wednesday’s game for Cleveland, where they open a four-game series and then return home. It is only the third time in franchise history, and first since 1999, they have a two-game stand.
Tonight also opens perhaps the most critical stretch of the season for the Rays, as they play the first of 34 games in 34 days and 47 in 48.
The Rays have Hunter Wood scheduled to be the opener and Jalen Beeks expected to work the bulk of the innings.
Here is the Rays lineup, with both Daniel Robertson and Yandy Diaz, who were hit by pitches on Sunday, slated to play:
Diaz 1b
Pham lf
Meadows dh
Garcia rf
d’Arnaud c
Adames ss
Lowe 2b
Heredia cf
Robertson 3b
Wood p