Oakland @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 27, 2010 ) Oakland 6, Tampa Bay 8
Oakland Athletics hurler Dallas Braden received plenty of attention after his verbal confrontation with New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez in his last start. A win in Wednesday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays and they'll start talking about his pitching.
Braden beat the Yankees, 4-2, in his last outing but what made it special was his brash challenge of Rodriguez.
He lashed out at the Yankees' third baseman for cutting across the mound while returning to first base after Robby Cano hit a foul ball. Braden called it disrespectful and a breach of baseball etiquette. Rodriguez laughed off the incident and added that a pitcher with just a handful of major league wins had no right to complain.
While even Rodriguez's teammate, Derek Jeter, later said he never heard of the "unwritten rule", Braden said he received hundreds of responses, mostly via e-mail and text messages and 95 percent of them were supportive.
Braden added that teams like the Yankees had to realize that the A's were no longer doormats. A solid performance against the Rays, who have won 12 of their last 14 games, could lend further support.
Braden is 3-0 on the season with a 2.77 ERA in four starts on the season. A year ago, his second in the majors, Braden went 8-9 with a 3.89 ERA.
James Shields (2-0) will make the start for the Rays. Shields is the anchor of one of the best young staffs in the majors. The Rays began the series second in team ERA trailing only the A's.
Before the season started, Rays manager Joe Maddon said he hoped to get 200 or more innings from all five of their starters. They are certainly on their way. Tampa Bay has allowed three or less runs in 10 of its past 13 games and leads the majors in quality starts.
The Rays will play without catcher Dioner Navarro, who was suspended two games for making contact with umpire Dan Bellino in Friday's game. Navarro got into a heated exchange with the umpire while arguing a pitch called a ball and bumped the home plate umpire in the dispute.
Navarro was ejected from the game and has not played since due to soreness in his left leg. He began serving the suspension on Tuesday.
John Jaso, who has excelled in his short time with the Rays, will continue to start in his Navarro's place. Jaso is hitting .429 with a homer and six RBIs.
The Rays took the first game of the series, 8-6, on Tuesday. Pat Burrell and Reid Brignac homered for Tampa Bay.