By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, May 19, 2012

Rays vs. Braves

When/where: 1:40 today; Tropicana Field

TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)

Promotions: Kyle Farnsworth bobblehead to first 10,000 kids 14 and under

Probable pitchers

RAYS: LH David Price

(6-2, 3.10)

BRAVES: RH Tim Hudson

(2-1, 3.96)

On Price: Hehas won five of his past six starts, including allowing three runs over seven innings against Toronto last week. He won his only career start against Atlanta in 2010, giving up two earned runs in five innings.

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, May 19, 2012

Rays executives believe they plan for everything.

But when outfielder Brandon Guyer reported soreness in his shoulder at the start of last week, meaning they would be without their second-, third- and now fourth-string centerfielders, they found themselves pulling essentially an all-nighter to find a replacement.

They looked at four or five players who could handle playing centerfield and ended up making a Wednesday morning deal with the Phillies to get Rich Thompson.

By Gary Shelton, Times Sports Columnist
Saturday, May 19, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG

Don't strike out, the kid said to himself. Whatever you do, don't strike out.

After all, this was the first at-bat of his career. And who wants to embarrass himself as he is saying hello? Besides, his team was ahead by 10 runs, and things had turned so ugly that the opponent had a backup catcher on the mound to finish things up. Heroics could wait for another day. Couldn't they?

So young Rich Thompson swung at the first pitch he saw, a fastball, and the ball bounded up the middle …

Times staff
Saturday, May 19, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG — What made Saturday's first start of the season different for Alex Cobb was treating it the same as any other.

He woke up around 10 in his Clearwater house, borrowed one of his buddies' cars for the drive in, stopped at a Subway for lunch (turkey/bacon) and pulled into Lot 10 at Tropicana Field feeling not only that he had been there before, but that he belonged.

Then he went out and showed it, delivering exactly the kind of performance that can make the Rays' loss of Jeff Niemann more tolerable in a 5-2 interleague win over the Braves.