MLB notes: Baltimore will be home team at Tampa Bay’s stadium

Will John Denver play during the seventh-inning stretch this weekend when the Orioles travel to St. Petersburg, Florida, to play three “home” games on the road at Tropicana Field, nearly 1,000 miles away from Baltimore?

Will Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria’s walk-up music be played on his home field even though he will be wearing a gray road uniform?

And just how exactly do you play a home game in an opponent’s stadium?

Those were among the internal questions and discussions this week after the Orioles relocated their three-game home series – originally slated for Camden Yards – to the Rays’ home field because of the unrest throughout Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American city resident who died in police custody.

Even though the Orioles wanted to swap this weekend’s series for one slated to be played at Tampa Bay in July, Major League Baseball decided that it was already difficult enough costing the Orioles fan base five home dates in Baltimore this week, and would be unwise to affect another franchise’s fan base as well, according to industry sources.

Since these games are still technically Orioles home games, the Orioles did request playing the same crowd prompts and videos that are played at Camden Yards, but were rebuffed by MLB, which preferred a more neutral experience. They will wear their home white uniforms, take batting practice first and bat at the end of the inning.

The host Rays are making several efforts to make sure the series will have an impartial feel to it. There will be none of the typical sponsorship elements presented during a regular Rays home game, no game emcee and no pump-up-the-crowd elements.

Royals’ Ventura drops appeal

Kansas City Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura opted to abandon his appeal of his seven-game suspension.

Ventura was suspended by MLB for his actions in an April 23 game at the Chicago White Sox, which led to a brawl with both dugouts and bullpens emptying. It was Ventura’s third incident in his first four starts.

MLB tweaks pace of play rules

MLB tweaked its pace of play rules that take effect today, giving hitters and pitchers more leeway before imposing fines.

The new agreement between owners and players came as game times dropped to 2 hours, 54 minutes through Wednesday, down 8 minutes from the same period last year.

Under the previous deal, a series of warnings and fines would have begun today and have been cumulative, carrying over throughout the month and leading to $500 fines for players who took too long.

Now, for the month of May, the penalties will reset and start over with each new series.

Clearing the bases

Detroit Tigers closer Joe Nathan underwent season-ending Tommy John and flexor repair surgery. … The Minnesota Twins put RHP Casey Fien on the disabled list because of a right shoulder strain. … LHP Tim Cooney was brought up from the minor leagues by the St. Louis Cardinals to start against Philadelphia in his major league debut. The Cardinals optioned catcher Cody Stanley to Memphis and opened a spot on their 40-man roster by transferring pitcher Adam Wainwright from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.