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2012 Rays Spring Training: David Price Takes Mound In ST Opener

The Tampa Bay Rays hit the field for the first time in 2012 on Saturday, taking on the Minnesota Twins in a Spring Training exhibition game at the Lee County Sports Complex in Lee County, FL.

The Rays send top lefty David Price to mound to get the season underway. The 26-year-old Price looks to build on a successful fourth season in the majors. He has managed to bring his FIP lower in each of his last three seasons -- 4.59, 3.42 and 3.32 -- while bringing his walk rate to a career low 6.9% in 2011, and he hopes to do more of the same in 2012.

Facing the Rays on the mound will be veteran hurler Carl Pavano, who has undergone a career resurgence with the Twin. He has pitched over 640 innings over the last three years with a FIP near 4.00 in each of those seasons. He may not be much of an ace starter, but he can eat innings and give teams fits on occasion.

The Rays starting lineup looks like this:

LF Desmond Jennings
CF B.J. Upton
2B Ben Zobrist
RF Matt Joyce
C Jose Molina
DH Jose Lobaton
1B Juan Miranda
3B Elliot Johnson
SS Reid Brignac

Gametime: 1:05 p.m. ET

Broadcast: 620 WDAE

For more on the Tampa Bay Rays, drop by SB Nation's blog on the Rays, DRaysBay.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.