Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.
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Posted Aug 21, 2011 by Roger Mooney
Updated Aug 21, 2011 at 12:51 PM
A boy and his dog.
ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG David Price’s French bulldog Astro was the hit this morning, running around the field and the dugouts.
The two are the subject of today’s giveaway: David Price and Astro superhero figurine.
“I guess every dog has its day,” Joe Maddon said.
The Rays are looking to sweep the Mariners this afternoon, a feat that will give them sweeps in consecutive series at the Trop. It will also, if anything else, mean the Rays will not lose ground in the playoff chase.
They begin the 7.5 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings.
James Shields will start for the Rays. He’s thrown complete games in his last two starts, though he took the loss in his last outing, a 3-1 setback against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. That start was notable for two reasons: It was the last time the Rays lost, and it start a run of outstanding pitching by the rotation.
Here are the lineups:
MARINERS
Suzuki RF
Gutierrez CF
Ackley 2B
Carp 1B
Wells LF
Kennedy 3B
Peña dh
Seager SS
Bard C
—
Pineda RHP (9-7, 3.77)
RAYS
Jennings LF
Damon DH
Longoria 3B
Zobrist 2B
Kotchman 1B
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Jaso C
Brignac SS
—
Shields (11-10, 2.83)
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