Rays Notes

Three Cheers for Chirinos

Robinson Chirinos pinch-hit in the 11th inning Thursday and delivered a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 6. He came through in the 12th inning with a bases-loaded single to plate the winning run in the Rays' 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays Thursday.

Chirinos launched his first major league home run Wednesday, and is hitting .304 (7-for23) with six RBI over his last 10 games.

Shields Support

James Shields (10-9, 2.95) benefited from a season-high nine runs of support to pick up the win Wednesday. The right-hander logged 7 1/3 innings, allowed one run and fanned six batters. His previous season-high was six runs.

Price Below .500

David Price could have benefited from the same type of support Tuesday. The southpaw saw his win-loss average dip below .500 (9-10) when he got tabbed with the loss in the Rays' 3-1 defeat to the Blue Jays. It is the first time Price has carried a losing record at this point in the season.

Longoria Struggling

Though Evan Longoria homered in the Rays' rout of the Jays Thursday, he went 1-for-6 at the plate. He is 3-for-34 (.088) with two homers in his last 10 games, and watched his batting average fall from .241 to .224 over the span.

CONCERT WEEKEND: The Go-Go's will perform after Friday night's game. The Goo Goo Dolls will take the stage Saturday night.

UP NEXT:

The Rays (58-52) open a three-game series with the Oakland A's (49-62). Jeff Niemann (5-4) gets the start for Tampa Bay against Oakland's Guillermo Moscoso (4-5). Niemann will look to record a second win in as many starts, after striking out a season-high 11 over 6 2/3 frames in Seattle last Friday.

George Christian Pappas covers the Tampa Bay Rays and Major League Baseball for ESPN Radio Gainesville/Ocala. He is finishing his degree in journalism and Spanish at the University of Florida. You can send him questions or comments at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on Twitter @gpappas99.

Sir Charles with the slam