SEATTLE -- Right-hander starter Griffin Jax was scratched hours before first pitch of the Rays' matchup with the Mariners on Saturday night with discomfort in his right elbow, but the injury is not ligament related, according to manager Kevin Cash.
“Woke up this morning not feeling great,” Jax said after the Rays' 3-2 win. “Just felt like something was not feeling great as a whole. But getting checked out with the team, and you know, I think we ruled out the worst case possible scenario.”
The Rays will get more information on Jax’s injury on Sunday.
“I'm hoping I can come and play catch tomorrow and go from there,” Jax said. “But until I hear anything else, I'm just going to treat it like you know, kind of a day-to-day thing.”
Shortstop Taylor Walls was also scratched before the game with lower back tightness, but did enter the game in the bottom of the sixth to replace Carson Williams at shortstop.
“Just a back issue that kind of crept up,” Cash said. “One hundred percent my decision. He wasn't too thrilled about not starting, but just figured where we're at, we got to protect them [infield] a little bit.”
Right-hander Casey Legumina got the nod in place of Jax. The Rays utilized seven arms against Seattle, allowing just two solo homers from Josh Naylor.
Jax was on a solid streak heading into Saturday. In his last three games, over 16 2/3 innings, he’s allowed six runs (three earned) along with 23 strikeouts.
Legumina got the start versus his former team. He was traded from the Mariners in April in exchange for Ty Cummings.