--DH Pat Burrell didn't start Tuesday, and he was not used in a ninth-inning pinch-hitting situation, because of an ongoing problem with a stiff neck that first forced him to miss the April 28 game. Manager Joe Maddon said it could require further medical evaluation: "I'm not sure yet; right now we're calling it day-to-day. You can just see him walking around, it's just a little bit stoked up and he just can't get it loose."
--OF Gabe Kapler picked up his first RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly that scored Willy Aybar in the second inning Tuesday. Kapler had gone 45 at-bats without driving in a run, the second-highest total in the majors behind the White Sox's Brent Lillibridge. --Backup C Shawn Riggans will be out until at least mid-June, but he doesn't appear to need surgery on his sore right shoulder. Riggans, examined Monday by Dr. James Andrews, will rest the shoulder for at least three weeks to see if that calms down the irritation and inflammation, and then he'll begin rehab work. He played in just one game before going on the disabled list retroactive to April 10.
--2B Akinori Iwamura got Tuesday night off because manager Joe Maddon felt he looked "a little bit fatigued" and would benefit from two days of rest. Iwamura had played in 32 of the first 33 games after spending most of spring training playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
MEDICAL WATCH:
RHP Chad Bradford (right elbow surgery in February 2009) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 27. He is scheduled to start a rehab assignment in early May, aiming for a late-May return to the Rays.
RHP Jason Isringhausen (right elbow surgery in September 2008) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 31. He began a rehab assignment with Class AA Montgomery on April 20. He was scratched from his first scheduled appearance for Class AAA Durham on April 30 due to a mild abdominal strain, but he began pitching for Durham on May 3.
C Shawn Riggans (right shoulder tendinitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 10. He began a rehab assignment with Class AA Montgomery on May 5 before experiencing a setback. He will rest the shoulder until early June before resuming rehab work.
OF Fernando Perez (dislocated left wrist) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 27. He is projected to miss four or five months because further exams showed ligament damage as part of the injury he suffered March 10. The Rays hope he will return in time to play regular-season games.
ROTATION:
RHP James Shields
LHP Scott Kazmir
RHP Matt Garza
RHP Andy Sonnanstine
RHP Jeff Niemann
BULLPEN:
RHP Troy Percival (closer)
RHP Dan Wheeler
RHP Grant Balfour
LHP J.P. Howell
LHP Brian Shouse
RHP Joe Nelson
RHP Lance Cormier
CATCHERS:
Dioner Navarro
Michel Hernandez
INFIELDERS:
1B Carlos Pena
2B Akinori Iwamura
SS Jason Bartlett
3B Evan Longoria
INF Willy Aybar
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Carl Crawford
CF B.J. Upton
RF Gabe Gross
DH Pat Burrell
OF Gabe Kapler
OF/INF Ben Zobrist
