ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has reworked his lineup in search of an offensive spark.
Maddon had sluggers Wil Myers and Evan Longoria first and second Wednesday night in the lineup against Oakland. Part-time outfielder Brandon Guyer, who normally hits seventh or eighth, was the cleanup hitter.
Over a 28-game stretch through Tuesday, Longoria hit .202. Myers started the day with two RBIs in his past 14 games.
“I wanted to get them as many at-bats as possible to get them going,” Maddon said of Myers and Longoria. “Right now it’s really difficult to try to set up a logical batting order based on as a group not hitting. If those two guys go, we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
The Rays, last in the AL East, had scored in just one of their previous 28 innings entering Wednesday, and had 14 runs over the previous seven games.
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