Tampa Bay's visit to Philadelphia for the first time since the 2008 World Series had a familiar, wet feeling to it, as Friday night's game between the Rays (38-31) and Phillies (33-38) was washed out after a 2-hour and 48-minute rain delay. The two team's will begin their weekend series now on Saturday and play a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.
James Shields (7-4, 3.72 ERA) will remain the starter for the first game of the series, despite warming up on Friday night. In his last two starts, both against the struggling Miami Marlins, Shields has allowed one earned run and 13 hits in 14 innings of work.
Cliff Lee, scheduled to pitch Friday night, will not throw on Sunday. In his place on Saturday will be Kyle Kendrick (2-7, 5.29 ERA). Kendrick is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his last three outings, and is 0-2 with an 8.68 ERA in five career interleague home starts.
For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Rays, visit DRaysBay. For more on the Phillies throughout this interleague series, visit The Good Phight. Also go visit Baseball Nation for more news and notes from around the Major League.