Jackson has best outing of spring

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Edwin Jackson had his best outing of the spring Wednesday when he held the visiting Phillies to just one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Jackson hit two batters, walked another and struck out spring-high seven.

“I liked it from an execution perspective,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Better location down. A better slider today. Overall I thought he pitched pretty well, and I thought it was his best outing to date.”

Jackson retired the first 11 batters he faced before drilling Chris Snelling with a slider on his right foot with two-out and two strikes on Snelling in the fourth inning.

“I was trying to bury a slider inside to the left-handed hitter,” Jackson said. “I buried it a little too inside.”

A leadoff double by Geoff Jenkins in the fifth broke up Jackson’s no-hitter. Carlos Ruiz drove Jenkins home with a two-out single to left.

Jackson ran into a little trouble in the sixth when he allowed a two-out single to Snelling, walked Ryan Howard and hit Jenkins on his right foot. It was the same pitched he tried to throw to Snelling two innings earlier.

That was Jackson’s final pitch. Al Reyes came on and got the final out of the inning.

Jackson was pleased with his outing.

He eliminated the big innings that usually plague his starts.

Jackson will assume one of the spots in the rotation. He’s just not sure which one it will be.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I’m just going out there and trying to be me.”

Kaz update
There hasn’t been much news with Scott Kazmir other than he will not be the Opening Day starter, which Maddon finally confirmed after Wednesday’s game.

Kazmir did throw with trainer Ron Porterfield before Wednesday’s game. But what’s next is still up in the air.

“He’s going to come in (Thursday) and we see how he’s doing, we’re going to make that evaluation in a daily basis,” Maddon said. “He is able to throw right now. We’re going to talk to Ronnie and find out on a daily basis what he can do when he walks through that door and we’ll build the day around how he feels.”

Now that’s relief
The bullpen continues to pitch well.

Reyes came in with the bases loaded and two out and got Pedro Feliz to foul out to catcher Mike DiFelice to end Philadelphia’s threat in the top of the sixth.

Troy Percival, Grant Balfour and Scott Dohmann followed with a scoreless inning each.

In fact, the Rays bullpen did not allow a hit.

“Real crisp out of the bullpen, and that was nice to see,” Maddon said.
Maddon was especially impressed with Balfour.

“I like what Balfour is doing right now,” Maddon said. “He is down in the zone more now than he has been, probably at any time, and I like that.”


Respect for Longoria?
Evan Longoria, the Rays rookie third baseman, came to bat with runners on second and third and one out in the sixth inning and was walked intentionally, which drew boos from the nearly sold-out stadium, but smiles from Maddon.

“I liked it,” Maddon said. “They’re playing to win this game. I kind of liked the whole think. It indicates to me they’re trying to win the game, and I respect that.”

And?

“And it was Longoria,” Maddon said.

Longoria eventually scored on a double by Jason Bartlett. He’s batting .313.

New look
The Rays debut their white home uniforms Wednesday.

”They’re much warmer than the other ones,” Maddon said.

The uniforms are all white with short sleeve jerseys. They also wore the all blue game caps they’ll wear during the regular season.

“I like them,” Maddon said. “They are ultra white. I think they are the whitest jerseys I’ve ever seen.”

Injury front
The timetable for when catcher Shawn Riggans returns from a bruised left hand has not been fixed.

"Right now, we want to get him back to swinging,” Maddon said. "We are just going to take it a day at a time, and I think he's going to be fine over the next couple days.”

Infielder Andy Cannizaro continues to workout with the team during batting practice, though on a limited basis.

Infielder Willy Aybar is out of the lineup with a tight right hamstring. Maddon wasn’t sure when he will return.

There is still no progress on pitchers Kurt Birkins (irritated ulnar nerve in left elbow) and Chad Orvella (strained right bicep).

Today’s action
The Rays make their first of two trips to Winter Haven on Thursday to play the Indians. Jason Hammel will start for the Rays. Paul Byrd is expected to pitch for the Indians.

This & That
B.J. Upton’s leadoff double in the sixth sparked a three-run rally. Cliff Flyd and Mike DiFelice had RBI singles. Jason Bartlett had an RBI double … Elliot Johnson began the day third in the American League with a .469 batting average. Former Rays prospect Josh Hamilton, now with the Rangers, led the league with s .556 average. Johnson’s 12 runs scored were second in the league … Matt Garza’s 15 1/3 innings was second in the A.L., behind Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman, who had 17 2/3 innings … The Rays play just three more games at Al Lang, Saturday and Monday against Pittsburgh and March 28 against the Reds.