The Rays and Red Sox are gearing up for tonight’s affair, with a large—and no doubt pro-Sox—crowd expected at the Trop.

The highlights from the pregame on the Rays’ side:

* The Red Sox surprised Eric Hinske with his World Series ring from last year this afternoon. Hinske was thrilled to get it—he originally was scheduled to receive it when the Rays visited Boston.

* Carlos Pena is on the bench today because of his abysmal numbers against Tim Wakefield (4-for-26). Maddon didn’t think it would be smart to send him out there against a guy who has owned him when he’s already slumping.

* Saw Cliff Floyd in the clubhouse, he said he feels great two weeks from the day of his knee surgery. His plan is to go out on a rehab assignment sometime next week—I would guess Vero—and he would like to rejoin the team when they come back from their road trip.

* Al Reyes is scheduled to pitch for a rehab inning tomorrow and Monday, putting him on track to rejoin the Rays the first day he is eligible to come off the DL. We had thought all along that would be next Wednesday, the 30th, based on Reyes being DL’ed on the 16th and (we thought) back-dated to the 15th, since he last pitched on the 14th.

But here’s where MLB’s delightful transaction rules come into play. Kurt Birkins had officially been optioned to Durham already when the Rays put Reyes on the DL. Because they were bringing Birkins back from an option, they couldn’t back-date the start of Reyes’ stay on the DL. Anyway, the bottom line is Reyes isn’t eligible to come off the DL until Thursday, and that’s when he is expected to join the Rays. Got it? Good.

Tonight’s lineups:

Rays
Iwamura 2B
Crawford LF
Upton CF
Gomes DH
Longoria 3B
Hinske 1B
Navarro C
Gross RF
Bartlett SS
Garza P

Red Sox
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Ramirez LF
Youkilis 3B
Drew RF
Casey 1B
Lugo SS
Cash C
Wakefield P