Upton in the leadoff spot

Update: 4:01 The lineup card in the Rays clubhouse drew a crowd Saturday afternoon, as B.J. Upton was placed in the leadoff spot.

Manager Joe Maddon approached Upton about it Friday night, as usual leadoff man Akinori Iwamura will have to sit out a three-game suspension.

"I like it," Upton said with a grin. "I've always kind of liked the leadoff spot....I'm kind of looking forward to it."

Upton, who typically takes a lot of pitches anyways, said his approach won't change.

But he did joke: "That first pitch of the game, I'm looking to be Hanley Ramirez."

RAYS

Upton cf

Crawford, lf

Longoria, 3b

Hinske, rf

Pena, 1b

Navarro, c

Aybar, 2b

Bartlett, ss

It's a cloudy day in Pittsburgh here, and the forecast indicates we could get quite a bit of rain tonight at PNC Park.

The Rays, having won four straight road games, will take on another call-up in Pirates righty Ty Taubenheim, a Brewers draft pick who made his debut for the Jays in 2006. For Turn Back the Clock Night here, Tampa Bay is wearing the uniforms of the Jacksonville Red Caps of the Negro League and the Pirates are donning those of the Pittsburgh Crawfords...

Edwin Jackson will make his first start since coming off his five-game suspension from the Red Sox brawl, and will likely have a different infield set up behind him. Akinori Iwamura begins serving his three-game ban today, and Willy Aybar is slated to take his spot for his first start there -  in the majors - since 2006.

We'll keep you posted on the rain situation here, and lineups in a little bit....

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Comments

[Dan]

Well, is the game going to be played or what? Where is the update?