ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Desmond Jennings was back in the starting lineup for the first time in more than a week, leading off the AL wild-card tiebreaker game against Texas.
Jennings hadn’t started since leaving a game Sept. 22 against Baltimore because of tightness in his left hamstring. That was his third consecutive multihit game.
A .252 hitter with 20 stolen bases, Jennings was 1 for 2 as a pinch-hitter since his previous start.
Jennings told manager Joe Maddon on Sunday that he wanted to try to play in the tiebreaker. Maddon put him in the lineup only after Jennings went through a series of tests about four hours before Monday night’s game.
