ST. PETERSBURG -- Closer Alex Colome was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, retroactive to June 19, with medial biceps tendinitis in his right arm and the Rays recalled left-hander Dana Eveland from Triple-A Durham.
Colome, who has converted all of his 19 save opportunities this season, expects to return when his time on the DL expires in early July.
"It's not a month. It's not two weeks," Colome said. "It's like five days. It's good for me and my arm. I don't want to go out and push and maybe take the whole season."
Colome is the ninth Tampa Bay player to land on the DL in the past 46 days. In the Rays' first 40 days of the season, they didn't lose a single player to the DL. With Eveland in the bullpen, the club now has three lefties with Enny Romero and Xavier Cedeno.
Colome hasn't allowed a run in his 19 save opportunities. He hadn't allowed a run since May 1 before giving up a three-run, game-winning homer to Joe Panik on June 18 in his last appearance against the Giants. That one swing made up half of the six runs he's given up this season.
Colome said he'd been dealing with a throat sickness while in Cleveland and had been playing catch. When the team got to Baltimore and he tried to resume throwing the ball, he felt tightness in his arm.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said the team will mix and match the closer role going forward. Cedeno finished the blowout 13-7 win on Monday, but Cash said he could potentially see Matt Andriese play closer if needed.
"Hopefully it will be a short stint, and we'll get him back here soon," Cash said. "Ultimately, now we have time to get him off the mound, potentially face some hitters and see where he's at."

Fantasy spin | Fred Zinkie (@FredZinkieMLB)
With a 1.76 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP and 19 saves, Colome has been one of the best waiver-wire finds this season. But now that he's joined Brad Boxberger on the disabled list, the 29-year-old Cedeno can be added in deep-mixed formats. Shallow-league owners, however, should first look to ninth-inning options such as Arodys Vizcaino, Carlos Estevez and Seung Hwan Oh.