Rays shortstop Yunel Escobar was forced out of tonight’s game against the Rockies after being hit on the left hand with a fastball thrown by Jon Garland. Escobar left immediately and Ryan Roberts came in to take his spot on first base. After the inning, Roberts took over at second base and Ben Zobrist moved from second to shortstop.
Escobar was struggling, entering the night with a .174 average and .507 OPS. He is listed as day-to-day according to Mark Topkin. The Rays could continue to use Zobrist at short and Roberts at second, or they could use Kelly Johnson -- who has logged 78 defensive innings in the outfield -- at second as well.
