Opener sold out; Floyd sidelined

Update, 6:34: There was some injury news for the Rays, and it wasn't good. DH Cliff Floyd - who had hits in each of his four starts - was scratched from Monday's lineup due to right knee soreness, and replaced by Jonny Gomes.
And INF Ben Zobrist had to have pins inserted in his slow-healing fractured left thumb, delaying his return back at least two more weeks, which means it now is likely to be sometime in May before he is ready to go.

The new lineup is listed below.

The Rays announced at about 4 p.m. that Tuesday's home opener is sold out.
Technically, there were some tickets still available - obstructed view, scattered singles and handicap accessible seating - but the Rays deemed it officially a sellout. Under present configuration, with tarps covering good portions of the upper deck, capacity has been reduced to around 36,000.
That makes three straight seasons the home opener has sold out and - at about 27 hours before game time - the earliest it has happened since the 1998 inaugural opener.

As for Monday night's game, it is very cold here in New York, with the windchill expected to be in the 30s by the end of the night.

The Rays lineup looks like this, with the biggest decision by manager Joe Maddon to play Eric Hinske in rightfield despite poor numbers against Yankees starter Mike Mussina (4-for-29 with 12 strikeouts):

Iwamura, 2b
Crawford, lf
Pena, 1b
Upton, cf
Floyd, dh Hinske, rf
Hinske, rf Aybar, 3b
Aybar, 3b Gomes, DH
Difelice, c
Bartlett, ss

Comments

[Erick]

If the Rays deal falls thru, I hope they build this kind of stadium at Al Lang Field.....

http://kc.wizards.mlsnet.com/t105/stadium/

[Mark]

Why do we keep playing Hinske instead of Gomes in right?? Gomes has the pop to where he should be more than just a platooner vs. LHP. What is Maddon thinking here? Yesterdays' game was a perfect example, we were just one or two hits away. We are wasting a valuable weapon. Our lineup falls off immensely after Floyd in this lineup that Maddon puts out against righties. I hate this.

[Chris]

The Trop is ten times better then al lang feild i would never want it to move

[raysfan]

mark -- because hinske is a better player than gomes and doesn't strike out as much. you put gomes at the plate with runners on second and third with two outs, he hacks at the first pitch and pops it up (or something similar). seen it thousands of times. maddon made the right call.

[raysfan]

oh and before people get their pants in a bunch, i'm actually a huge gomes fan. loved it when he tackled shelly duncan. plus i've met him and had my picture taken with him.

[Josh]

Raysfan - Don't forget that Upton, Pena, Delmon, and Gomes were all in the top 30 in the majors in strike outs. It wasn't just Gomes racking up the Ks. But, relative to the amount of ABs, Gomes was very high (about 50%). The team as a whole needs to be more selective. I think they are getting much better at it though.

[Bodog]

What is wrong with the Rays hitters....Mussina is throwing nothing and no-one can hit him. His fast ball topped out at 89....Curve 65 - 75....Jeeze guys, come on! Damn! This is so frustrating. Three hits last nite, one so far tonite.

[raysfan]

hey at least we went .500 on our road trip, even though our offense was totally dead the past 2 games. now the mariners next and i don't expect them to be a walk in the park...