The Rays employ their rightie-mashing lineup, such as it is, which means Matt Joyce moves from “de facto pitcher” to “cleanup hitter”:
Rangers vs. Rays: Tampa Bay’s Lineup For Game Three
Desmond Jennings - LF
B.J. Upton - CF
Evan Longoria - 3B
Matt Joyce - RF
Johnny Damon - DH
Ben Zobrist - 2B
Casey Kotchman - 1B
John Jaso - C
Reid Brignac - SSWhile Joyce was hitting in the #9 spot against lefties because of wicked platoon splits and inspired Joe Maddon chicanery, Reid Brignac is hitting there because he’s as close as it gets to a pitcher hitting in the AL.
| Player | AB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliff Lee | 75 | .200 | .208 | .307 | .514 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 71 | .225 | .267 | .225 | .492 |
| Yovani Gallardo | 68 | .221 | .254 | .324 | .577 |
| Daniel Hudson | 65 | .277 | .309 | .369 | .678 |
| Joe Saunders | 61 | .197 | .222 | .213 | .435 |
| Mike Leake | 55 | .200 | .214 | .236 | .451 |
| Ryan Vogelsong | 53 | .226 | .268 | .245 | .513 |
| Livan Hernandez | 46 | .217 | .217 | .239 | .457 |
| Chris Volstad | 46 | .196 | .213 | .239 | .452 |
| Vance Worley | 45 | .222 | .239 | .244 | .484 |
But none of those guys can play a mean shortstop, which Brignac can, so he gets the start.
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