PITTSBURGH — Amed Rosario said Sunday he felt fine.
Even more remarkably, normal.
The Rays infielder/outfielder was ready to return to action a day after he was struck by a 99.6 mph fastball that hit his shoulder and the face guard of his helmet and resulted in a cut near his lips that required two stitches.
“I feel good,” he said via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “I feel normal. I don’t feel too much swollen, I don’t feel too much pain. I’m sure it is swollen, but I don’t really feel it too much.”
Rosario, buoyed by messages from relatives, friends and former teammates, knew he was fortunate to avoid more severe injuries.
He watched replays of the pitch from Jared Jones to see where the ball, which struck with a thud, actually hit directly. “I think it was all three places (shoulder, helmet flap and face),” he said.
Manager Kevin Cash confirmed that Rosario was cleared to play Sunday against the Pirates but didn’t use him in the 3-1 win.
The bigger concern for the team may be second baseman Brandon Lowe, who also sat out Sunday after leaving Saturday’s game with a broken right pinkie toe after being hit by a Jones slider.
“He’s sore,” Cash said. “He’s moving pretty gingerly on his foot, on his toe. Like I said (Saturday), he’s day to day. We’ll see. ... He’ll continue to ice it. There’s not much you can do about it. It’s just some pain that’ll be there for a couple days.”
Cash said before Sunday’s game he expected Lowe to be available if needed to pinch hit.
Let’s try that again
Reliever Jason Adam and the Rays thought they had gotten out of the eighth inning when Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded into a third-to-second-to-first double play and headed off the field to the dugout.
But the Pirates made a replay challenge, and an extended review overturned the call. It was determined that second baseman Richie Palacios came off the base before receiving the throw from Jose Caballero.
Hayes was still out at first, but Andrew McCutchen was ruled safe at second, and the Rays had to go back onto the field. Adam walked the next batter, then got another third out when Oneil Cruz grounded out.
“I was just glad we could come out of that with a zero,” Adam said.
Palacios seemed surprised the play was in question.
“I just turned the double play and then I ran in, and I didn’t honestly realize at all that I came off (the base),” he said. “I was in the dugout. I don’t think anyone knew. But, obviously they looked back at it. I guess my foot came off a little early randomly there, so that’s something to look at. ... Good thing it didn’t cost us.”
Welcome back, Luke
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Explore all your optionsCash and several players said they will be excited on Monday to see former outfielder Luke Raley, who the Rays traded in the offseason to Seattle to get Caballero.
Cash praised Raley for being “a really good player” and a good teammate. “We miss him,” Cash said. “We miss him in the clubhouse and stuff, what he brought. It’ll be exciting to see him.”
Raley, known for his good nature and self-deprecatory humor, is hitting .263 with nine homers, 22 RBIs and a .773 OPS this season for the Mariners.
Caballero said Sunday morning he hadn’t though much about the reunion, staying in contact mainly just with centerfielder Julio Rodriguez. “I’m excited to face my old teammates,” he said.
Miscellany
Jeffrey Springs worked 2-1/3 innings, allowing two hits and a walk while throwing 42 pitches in his third start for Triple-A Durham as he rehabs from April 2023 Tommy John surgery. He is targeted for a return around the All-Star break. ... The Rays scored first in all nine games of the road trip. ... Yandy Diaz hit the first, first-pitch-of-the-game homer for the Rays since Aug. 26, 2022, when he did so at Boston. ... By taking two of three from both the Twins and Pirates, the Rays won their first back-to-back road series since mid-May. ... Cash on facing Pirates rookie starters Jones and Paul Skenes in consecutive games: “They’re as good of a one-two combination as we’ve maybe seen this year.”
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