THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARLINGTON, Texas — Tampa Bay closer Troy Percival was put on the disabled list Friday with a cartilage injury to his right knee, his third stint on the DL this season.
Percival, who has 27 saves for the AL East-leading Rays, sprained his knee in the ninth inning Thursday. The 39-year-old closer fielded a bunt by Oakland’s Mark Ellis then chased down the batter to record the out before limping back to the mound.
The Rays recalled right-hander Juan Salas from triple-A Durham, and he was with the team for the opener of a three-game series at Texas. As a rookie last season, Salas had a 3.72 ERA in 34 appearances for Tampa Bay, but missed spring training this season because of visa issues.
Salas was 4-5 with one save and a 2.62 ERA in 28 appearances for Durham.
Percival had already missed 26 games during two DL stints for a strained left hamstring. He signed a two-year deal with the Rays last off-season.
"He has a cartilage injury of some sort. We still don’t know exactly how we’ll progress from here, what will be required," manager Joe Maddon said. "He’ll be re-evaluated when we get back home. I don’t know how much longer than the normal DL it will take."
The Rays return home after the weekend series in Texas. Percival remained with the team, but third baseman Evan Longoria (right wrist fracture) and outfielder Carl Crawford (right middle finger tendon), who both went on the DL earlier this week, were already back in Tampa rehabbing.
While Percival is out, Maddon plans to "use the whole group" in save situations instead of using a specific closer.
"We have confidence here are different people who can get the last out," Maddon said. "We may have to bounce around a little. We’ll pay attention to matchups."
Tampa Bay is 33-0 this season with Percival has entered the game in a save situation, winning all three games when he blew saves and the other three games when he left the game injured, including Thursday against the Athletics.
