Rays place righty Alex Cobb on bereavement list

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays placed right-hander Alex Cobb on the bereavement list Tuesday because of the death of his grandmother. The club also promoted right-hander Jake Odorizzi from Triple-A Durham to give the Rays’ bullpen a fresh arm.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said Cobb approached him about his grandmother’s death following the Boston Red Sox’s 10-8 victory in 14 innings at Tropicana Field, which began Monday night and ended early Tuesday after a five-hour, 24-minute game. Cobb made the start but only lasted four innings after giving up six runs, seven hits and three walks.
 
“He didn’t find out, I think, until after the game,” Maddon said.

“He came in and talked to me briefly afterwards. After everything had settled down, he came in the office. I knew he was upset. I didn’t know what was wrong. Then I found out something happened.”

Odorizzi made two starts with the Rays last month — May 20 against the Toronto Blue Jays and May 27 against the Miami Marlins — before being optioned to Durham on May 29.
 
“I pitched a couple times out of the bullpen in Low-A as a tandem-starting thing,” Odorizzi said.

“I’ll make the adjustment. You can’t really think about it as much as getting warm and getting going. That’s about all I can do, just try to get in there and get a feel for things as quickly as I can.”

Odorizzi is 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA in nine innings with the Rays this season.

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