Bartlett still not ready for field

Posted Aug 12, 2008 by Marc Lancaster

Updated Aug 12, 2008 at 07:43 PM

OAKLAND—Sunday, the Rays acted confident Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett would be back on the left side of the infield for tonight’s opener against the A’s.

Well, Longoria’s on the disabled list and Bartlett is in the lineup—as the DH. Updating: Apparently Bartlett threw with coach Tom Foley this afternoon but still isn’t ready…and as it turns out, not all that close. Like, not in this series.

“It’s still more than likely going to be Texas, I would think,” said Joe Maddon. “You’ve got the night game, day game [the next two days in Oakland], no time to get it rolling. If I was a betting man, I’d say Texas, probably.”

Rocco Baldelli will be in right field and batting cleanup again, with Justin Ruggiano starting in left field.

Here’s the full rundown:

Iwamura 2B
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Baldelli RF
Aybar 3B
Ruggiano LF
Navarro C
Zobrist SS
Bartlett DH
Kazmir P