After Robinson Cano, who had singled off Price to begin the inning, stole second base, Rodney intentionally walked pinch-hitter Travis Hafner to bring Lyle Overbay to the plate. Back after getting ahead of Overbay 1-2, Rodney could not put Overbay away, eventually walking him on a 3-2 changeup that had no bite to load the bases. Rodney and the Rays had a brief reprieve after Chris Stewart popped out on a nice catch by James Loney in foul ground. However, Rodney paid dearly for all the baserunners just one pitch later as Ichiro Suzuki lined a go-ahead 2-run single in front of Desmond Jennings in centerfield to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Evan Longoria homered off Mariano Rivera to begin the 9th, but that’s all the Rays could manage as they fell to the Yankees by a 4-3 score. It was a great game and certainly a hard-fought one, but it was tough for the Rays to come away on the losing side.

David Price and Phil Hughes delivered fans with quite a pitchers’ duel. Early on, though, it didn’t seem that way. The Rays had Hughes on the ropes from the very start of the game as Desmond Jennings walked before Ryan Roberts doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Ben Zobrist followed with a long flyball to centerfield for a sac fly to put the Rays up 1-0. But Hughes buckled down from there, striking out Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce to end the inning, and he cruised from there. Hughes tossed shutout ball for the next 5 innings before the Rays finally got to him again in the 7th, with Jose Molina delivering an unlikely go-ahead single. But that didn’t take the luster off a great outing from Hughes as he went 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, striking out 6 while walking 2.

David Price breezed through the first 3 innings, throwing just 31 pitches. In the 4th inning, though, his own dominance cost him. Price began the inning by striking out Eduardo Nunez on a nasty curveball, but it was so dynamic that Jose Molina couldn’t catch it, leading to a wild pitch that allowed Nunez to reach. Robinson Cano and Vernon Wells followed with singles through the right side to tie the game at 1. From there, however, Price got right back into a groove, retiring the next 12 batters he faced taking him through 1 out in the 8th. Through 7 innings, Price had thrown just 79 pitches as he had been incredibly economical. Price wasn’t blowing by hitters in this game, striking out just 5 in 8+ innings of work, but he threw a ton of strikes, 71 of his 99 pitches to be exact, and didn’t walk a batter. He certainly had the pitch count to pitch the entire 9th inning and maybe even the 10th if he had pitched well and the game had gotten that far. But complicating Joe Maddon’s decision in the 9th was the events that took place in the 8th.

The Rays were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the 8th, but they had to feel confident with ace David Price on the mound. However, while the Yankees didn’t hit it hard against Price, they couldn’t have hit it in better spots. Ichiro came up with a single through the right side before Jayson Nix came up with a huge hit-and-run single that sent Ichiro to third base on a soft groundball placed perfectly between Evan Longoria at third base and Yunel Escobar at shortstop. The extra base taken by Ichiro made all the difference as Brett Gardner followed with a groundball to second base, and Ryan Roberts’ only play was at first base as the Yankees tied the game at 2 runs apiece.

Price was at 92 pitches through 8 innings and it was obvious that he would return to the mound to begin the 9th with a low pitch count, a tie game and obviously not a save situation, and a lefty batter, Robinson Cano coming to the plate. But Cano absolutely wore Price out with a 7-pitch at-bat to begin the inning, coming back from an 0-2 count to lace an opposite-field single to give the Yankees a great start to their 9th inning. Price was pitching well, but he appeared to be letting up, allowing the tying run in the 8th before failing to retire Cano. But Price’s state on the mound wasn’t the only factor. Batting next was the right-hand hitting Vernon Wells, who had gotten the RBI single off Price in the 4th, but after him it would be seemingly easy going for the lefty Price. The slumping Ben Francisco was due up after him with the Yankees’ best pinch-hitters all left-handed, and after him was lefty Lyle Overbay. However, with Price showing the early signs of coming apart even if his pitch count was fine and Wells having looked good against Price early in the game, Joe Maddon decided to overlook the batters scheduled to come up after Wells and put his trust in Fernando Rodney. If Rodney had pitched the way he’s capable of pitching, we wouldn’t be discussing whether Joe Maddon made the right move. But Rodney faltered and the result was a Rays defeat. Improbably, the Rays are now 0-5 in David Price’s starts. Price took the loss as Cano was the runner he allowed, but you certainly can’t blame him.

The Rays fall to 9-11 with the loss and hope to rebound on Wednesday for the series win with Alex Cobb taking the hill against Andy Pettitte. Baseball fans everywhere watching Tuesday’s game got themselves quite an exciting contest–but Rays fans were left stunned by Rodney’s implosion and hope for better results next time around.

Dave Hill: The injury to Derek Jeter is a huge concern for the Yankees. Coming off the ankle injury in the postseason, he injured it again, and they are saying that he will be out until the All-Star break. How do the Yankees replace him in the lineup, and replace his leadership on the field?

Ricky Keeler: Jeter’s leadership characteristics are huge. I think one problem that hurt the Yankees last year when Jeter got hurt in the postseason is that they had a quick turnaround and got caught up in the moment of that injury and basically no one came up and stepped into that role. You can’t replace Derek Jeter’s leadership – that’s a given – but I think that having a whole year to prepare, Joe Girardi said “You know what, maybe we won’t have Jeter for the first few games.” I think he’ll try to make his way back, maybe in late August, maybe for the stretch run.

More than the leadership, because the clubhouse seems looser, is replacing him on the field. One of those guys who could look to do that is Eduardo Nunez. He’s probably looked at as the next shortstop for the Yankees, but he’s sort of struggling right now. He’s hitting 7-40, hasn’t gotten on base, and hasn’t stolen any bases, which is what Nunez does best. He’s a guy that’s going to have to get going. They also have Jayson Nix who can play short and third, so they can still move Youkilis around. I think they can withstand the Jeter injury, but on the field, if Nunez doesn’t get it together, there could be some problems.

DH: One of the big keys for the Yankees have been some of those ‘bargain’ guys they picked up, like Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay, and the trade for Vernon Wells. How big have those signings and trades been, especially missing key pieces like Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and now Jeter?

RK: Out of those three, the player the Yankees miss the most is Teixeira. It’s nothing against Overbay, who is producing, but his defense the last couple of games has not been great. There was a play on Saturday where Teixeira probably makes the play 99 times out of 100. I think they miss his defense more than his offense, even though he can still be a very capable offensive player. The two surprises, to me, are Wells and Hafner. Hafner has been Raul Ibanez like; he has five home runs already, and had a big home run against David Hernandez on Tuesday. And then there is Vernon Wells – he went to Toronto, was getting booed in one of the more hostile places he is going to play in all year, and he hit a couple of home runs. He has been able to work the count, having as many walks as strikeouts right now. He’s a guy that a lot of people were counting out, but he may figure that he has a couple of years left. He seems very loose on his Twitter account; he has gotten his fresh start, and he’s taking advantage of it.

DH: The offense has been surprisingly potent, especially with those losses. When Teixeira comes back, Overbay goes back tot he bench, but when Granderson returns, the Yankees have a bit of an interesting situation with Ichiro, Brett Gardner and Wells. Who loses the starting nod once Granderson comes back?

RK: I think the Yankees put Granderson in left. They need his power bat in the lineup, although they are getting power from a lot of places. I think they eventually put Granderson in left, with Gardner in center. Ichiro is interesting, he’s only hitting .200, he’s not really working the count as much, he has seven strikeouts. He just doesn’t seem like he was last year. He’s not taking as many pitches, and he’s hitting too many ground balls. His defense is still solid, and he’s still a good right fielder, but if I had to go with Ichior or Wells in right, with Wells hitting the way he is, it’s tough to not take Ichiro out of the lineup. They have other fast guys with Nunez, Francisco Cervelli and Youkilis can hit for average as well. Putting Wells in right, they can still be an all-around good baseball team.

DH: You had mentioned Cervelli. He and Chris Stewart have hit really well to start the season. How much of a surprise has that been thus far in the season?

RK: I’ve been really surprised with how well Cervelli has hit. This is a guy who last year was in AAA until his September callup. For a lot of Yankees fans, he’s the guy they love the most since he has that really cool personality behind the plate, getting pumped up for every big strikeout. But he’s hitting the ball well right now, including a game tying home run off J.J. Putz the other night. He’s getting the job done bith at the plate and behind it. This isn’t to take anything away from Stewart, his defense is what is keeping him as a backup catcher, but I think Cervelli has taken the reins to be the primary catcher. It’s been a big shock at that position, because a lot of fans thought there would be a big dropoff at that spot with Jesus Montero being traded to Seattle and Russell Martin going to Pittsburgh, but Cervelli has outplayed them both right now.

DH: That trade with Montero going to Seattle does not appear to have worked out for either team. Montero has not been as advertised, and Michael Pineda has not pitched at all. Do you see a point in time when Pineda makes an impact for the Yankees?

RK: It’s hard to think that Pineda is going to make an impact for this year. I still think he can be useful one or two years down the road though. I didn’t think they would get much from him last year, since they hadn’t pitched him much in Seattle, and the Yankees have struggled to develop young pitchers, whether it’s Hughes, Chamberlain, or Ian Kennedy. He’s mainly a fastball pitcher, and got hurt trying to develop that secondary pitch. If they’re looking for depth down the road, maybe an option is to send Phelps to Scranton and work on increasing his pitch count. There is also Chien-Ming Wang, who made his AAA debut this weekend. He pitched well in the WBC, and was impressive against a disciplined Japanese lineup. You’ll probably see either of those before seeing Pineda.

DH: Aside from Robertson and Rivera, there have been issues in the bullpen. Who can step up and take that seventh inning role?

RK: Right now, it has to be Joba Chamberlain. I don’t think they have any other options. Boone Logan has been having problems getting lefties out, and the Yankees may need to look to add another lefty to the bullpen, but it has to be Joba. If he can build off that outing Saturday, where he was throwing 98 and working the slider in there, then he’s that guy. He was relying too much on the off speed stuff earlier, and he has to realize that he can overpower hitters. Can he be a guy that can come in and shut down the seventh inning three or four times a week? I think he can do that.

DH: Finally, Rivera said that this is going to be his final year. Do you think the Yankees have his replacement already on the roster, or do you think they go outside the organization for the next closer?

RK: I think it’s going to be David Robertson. I think he’s earned that chance with Girardi, and they tried him there in May last year. It didn’t work, but I think that if you give Robertson the full Spring to know he’s the closer and to get in that mindset, then he should be fine. There has already been a maturation process with Robertson, where he is no longer that guy that puts a couple of runners on base and works out of the jam. I think if he can develop that fastball a little bit more, that makes his breaking ball that much more of an out pitch. He’s trying to learn the cutter from Rivera, and while it’s not going to be the same cutter, if he has that in his arsenal, it gives him another weapon. I think he has the mentality to do it. Robertson had a great 2012 season, and if he can build on that, while he may not be as dominant as Mo, he could be a solid option.

Thanks again to Ricky Keeler for answering these questions for us, and for having me on his program.

Baltimore Orioles

Pitchers (12): Jake Arrieta, Luis Ayala, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, Jason Hammel, Tommy Hunter, Jim Johnson, Brian Matusz, T.J. McFarland, Darren O’Day, Troy Patton, and Pedro Strop.

Catchers (2): Taylor Teagarden and Matt Weiters.

Infielders (6): Alexi Castilla, Chris Davis, Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy, Manny Machado, and Brian Roberts.

Outfielder (5): Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Nate McLouth, Steve Pearce, and Nolan Reimold.

Notable players starting the season on the DL(1): Chris Tillman (abdominal soreness) and Wilson Betemit (torn PCL in right knee).

Notable players assigned to the Minors, DFA’d, or Cut: Mark Hendrickson, Jair Jurrjens, and Conor Jackson.

Newsworthy: Top prospect Dylan Bundy did not make the major league roster.

Opening Day Starter: Jason Hammel.

Boston Red Sox

Pitchers (12): Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey, Clay Buchholz, Ryan Dempster, Felix Doubront, Joel Hanrahan, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Andrew Miller, Clayton Mortensen, Junichi Tazawa, and Koji Uehara.

Catchers (2): David Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Infielders (6): Mike Carp, Pedro Ciriaco, Jose Iglesias, Will Middlebrooks, Mike Napoli, and Dustin Pedroia.

Outfielders (5): Jackie Bradley Jr., Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonny Gomes, Daniel Nava, and Shane Victorino.

Notable players starting the season on the DL (3): Craig Breslow (left shoulder tendinitis) and Franklin Morales (low back strain), and designated hitter David Ortiz (right Achilles tendinopathy).

Notable players assigned to the Minors, DFA’d, or Cut: Mauro Gomez and Ryan Lavarnway.

Newsworthy: Top prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. making the major league roster.

Opening Day Starter: Jon Lester.

New York Yankees

Pitchers (12): Joba Chamberlain, Cody Eppley, Shawn Kelley, Hiroki Kuroda, Boone Logan, Ivan Nova, Andy Pettite, David Phelps, Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, CC Sabathia, and Adam Warren.

Catchers (2): Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart.

Infielders (5): Robinson Cano, Jason Nix, Eduardo Nunez, Lyle Overbay, and Kevin Youkilis.

Outfielders (5): Brennan Boesch, Ben Francisco, Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki, and Vernon Wells.

DH (1): Travis Hafner.

Notable players starting the season on the DL (6): Curtis Granderson (fractured right forearm), Phil Hughes (bulging disc in back), Derek Jeter (ankle), Michael Pineda (right anterior labrul tear), Alex Rodriguez (right hip), and Mark Teixeira (torn tendon in right wrist).

Notable players assigned to the Minors, DFA’d, or Cut: Juan Rivera.

Newsworthy: Juan Rivera cut in favor of Lyle Overbay.

Opening Day Starter: CC Sabathia.

Tampa Bay Rays

Pitchers (12): Alex Cobb, Jeremy Hellickson, Roberto Hernandez (formally known as Fausto Carmona), Matt Moore, David Price, Kyle Farnsworth, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann, Joel Peralta, Cesar Ramos, Fernando Rodney, and Jamey Wright.

Catchers (2): Jose Lobaton and Jose Molina.

Infielders (7): Shelley Duncan, Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, James Loney, Evan Longoria, Ryan Roberts, and Sean Rodriguez.

Outfielder (4): Sam Fuld, Desmond Jennings, Matt Joyce, and Ben Zobrist.

Notable players starting the season on the DL(2): Juan Carlos Oviedo (formally known as Leo Nunez) (Tommy John surgery in September 2012) and Luke Scott (right calf strain).

Notable players assigned to the Minors, DFA’d, or Cut: Leslie Anderson and Chris Gimenez as well as Wil Myers.

Newsworthy:  Shelly Duncan made the opening day roster over both Leslie Anderson and Chris Gimenez.  Wil Myers assigned to the minors.  Veteran Jamie Wright makes the major league roster.

Opening Day Starter: David Price.

Toronto Blue Jays

Pitchers (13): Mark Buehrle, Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar, R.A. Dickey, J.A Happ, Casey Janssen, Jeremy Jeffress, Josh Johnson, Aaron Loup, Brandon Morrow, Darren Oliver, Esmil Rogers, and Sergio Santos.

Catchers (2): J.P. Arencibia and Henry Blanco.

Infielders (6): Emilio Bonifacio, Mark DeRosa, Edwin Encarnacion, Maicer Izturis, Adam Lind, and Jose Reyes.

Outfielders (4): Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, Rajai Davis, and Colby Rasmus.

Notable players starting the season on the DL(3): Kyle Drabek (Tommy John surgery in June 2012), Brett Lawrie (strained left rib cage), and Dustin McGowan (sore right shoulder), 

Notable players assigned to the Minors, DFA’d, or Cut: Ricky Romero and Josh Thole.

Newsworthy:  Ricky Romero assigned to single A to work out his problems.

Opening Day Starter: R.A. Dickey.