Why’d she have to go and make things so complicated?

Avril Lavigne found herself in hot water on Saturday when her expletive-filled rant was heard by over 24,000 people at a Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball in Tampa, Florida.

PHOTOS: Celebs go from angels to devils!

The 26-year-old singer experienced technical problems during her performance at the game, eliciting boos from the crowd. Lavigne responded to the jeers with an R-rated rant, snapping that sound problems “f**king happen on a baseball field.”

PHOTOS: Can you spot Avril in this hoodie gallery?

Later in the evening, Lavigne apologized for her outburst. “We just had so much fun tonight and we want to take the tirade out and say thank you to the Tampa Bay Rays!” she told the crowd. “I’m truly sorry if anyone was offended by my language.”

PHOTOS: Celeb meltdowns

On Sunday, the Rays released a statement condemning Lavigne’s language: “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night’s show.”

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Avril Lavigne was invited to a Tampa Bay Rays game over the weekend and spewed profanities over the microphone in front of a 25,000-person crowd.

Lavigne was gearing up to perform at Tropicana Field after the Rays lost to the Cleveland Indians, 7-3, when she had some trouble with the mic and received boos from the crowd.

MSNBC reports that Lavigne’s rant included remarks that the microphone mishap is what “f—ing happens on a baseball field.”

She then apologized for the rant, saying, “We just had so much fun tonight and we want to take the tirade out and say thank you to the Tampa Bay Rays!” adding, “I’m truly sorry if anyone was offended by my language.”

In a statement, a Rays spokesperson said, “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers, and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night’s show. It is not consistent with the atmosphere that Tropicana Field is known for.”

CBS News reports that the Canadian singer also threw out the first pitch.

It’s hard being the Tampa Bay Rays. The team is currently a game and a half out of first place in Major League Baseball’s toughest division, but they play in a terrible stadium that nobody really goes to anyway. And now, they’ve got an Avril problem.

On Saturday (May 28), after the team took a late-game thumping from the Cleveland Indians, the crowd was treated to a concert by Ms. Lavigne as a part of their summer concert series, which also features the likes of Miranda Lambert, Miranda Cosgrove, Goo Goo Dolls and REO Speedwagon.

Apparently, there were some technical difficulties at the top of the show, which lead to Lavigne dropping the F-bomb and several other choice words on a live microphone in front of an all-ages crowd, some of whom were reportedly booing in response to the sound difficulties. You can check out the NSFW audio after the jump.

Of course, Lavigne’s music isn’t exactly squeaky-clean to begin with (her current single “Smile” opens with the line “You know that I’m a crazy b—-”; later she declares she’s “f—ing crazy rock and roll”), so the crowd shouldn’t have been entirely surprised that she slipped in a little sailor language to vent her frustration. She even apologized for it towards the end of her set, which you can see below.

Still, the team was embarrassed enough to issue a formal apology: “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers, and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night’s show,” Rays spokesman Rick (Not “Wild Thing”) Vaughn said in a statement. “It is not consistent with the family-friendly atmosphere that Tropicana Field is known for.”

That last line is key, because for anybody who has been to Tropicana Field knows, it’s about the mildest place in the country to watch a baseball game. Had this incident occurred in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or St. Louis—all heavy baseball enclaves full of potty-mouthed denizens constantly inventing new curse words to express their frustration over Albert Pujols‘ inability to hit home runs—it wouldn’t be as big a deal.

Were you there? And do you expect a similar incident when the Wiggles play the venue next month? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more from EW.com:
Avril Lavigne’s acoustic cover of Ke$ha’s ‘TiK ToK’: Watch it here
Review: Avril Lavigne, Goodbye Lullaby
Avril Lavigne ditches her man to be a bad girl in ‘What the Hell’ video: Watch here

ST. PETERSBURG The problem for Tampa Bay Rays top pitching prospect Alex Cobb in his major-league debut a month ago wasn’t so much his pitches as the face that he was tipping them off.

The giveaway glove waggle was so blatant that pitching coach Jim Hickey took him into the video room during the game to point out what he was doing.

Cobb went back to Triple-A and worked on the flaw, and he’s back to make his second major-league start tonight at Tropicana Field against the reigning American League champion Texas Rangers.

“We’ve got everything that we were questioning from that game figured out,” the 23-year-old righthander said Monday night after the Rays added him to the 25-man roster and optioned reliever Brandon Gomes to Durham.

“It was just a matter of focusing on it, really. I wasn’t thinking about it before. I put a little bit of thought into it, went out and threw some outings, and now I don’t even have to think about it when I throw.”

Cobb, who was 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA at Durham, made his Rays debut against the Angels on May 1. He pitched well enough to take a 5-1 lead into the fifth but ran into trouble and was relieved by Andy Sonnanstine.

The Angels scored four runs in the frame to tie the game and eventually won 6-5. Cobb was charged with four runs in 4 1/3 innings.

In four starts at Durham afterwards, Cobb went 2-0 with a 0.36 ERA with 25 1/3 innings pitched. He leads the International League in ERA, is tied for third in wins and 50 strikeouts to only 10 walks with two home runs allowed.

Manager Joe Maddon wants Cobb, who will pitch in injured Jeff Niemann’s spot instead of Sonnasntine, to ignore the scouting reports on a Rangers lineup that hacked out 20 hits against the Rays in an 11-5 win Monday night and just “pitch his game.”

He believes the former Vero Beach High strikeout king will be sharper his second time out.

“I think so,” Maddon said. “Not only that, but I could see where he was giving it up a little bit to the other side. They knew what was coming. So advantage Angels to that point.”

“Going out there with all that stuff corrected, I like his stuff. He’s kind of like a (Jeremy) Hellickson. He pitches kind of like Helly, and I’d like to see how he does on a level playing field.”

Cobb said it’s an honor to be compared to Hellickson, the AL Rookie of the Year contender who is 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA as the Rays’ supposed fifth starter.

“Coming up through the organization, he was a year ahead of me and was always the top dog,” Cobb said. “I really enjoy watching him throw – he spots up his fastball really well, uses his offspeed well. I think any pitcher would want to model their game after that.”

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Rays Report

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Tuesday, May 31, 2011

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Rays vs. Rangers

When/where: 6:40 tonight; Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg

TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)

Starting pitchers

RAYS: RH Alex Cobb (0-0, 8.31)

RANGERS: LH C.J. Wilson (5-3, 3.25)

Tickets: $9-$210 at Tropicana Field box office, Ticketmaster, raysbaseball.com, team store in Tampa, $3 surcharge within five hours of game.

Watch for …

Cobb’s comeback: Cobb earned another shot, going back to Triple A after his May 1 start vs. the Angels (41/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R) and dealing, with a 2-0, 0.36 mark in four starts.

C.J.’s stuff: Wilson will be working with five days’ rest; in five career starts with an extra day he is 2-0, 3.73. Wilson is 2-0, 2.45 vs. the Rays.

Key matchups

Rays vs. Wilson

Johnny Damon 2-for-8

Evan Longoria 0-for-6

Casey Kotchman 0-for-11

Ben Zobrist 2-for-6

Rangers vs. Cobb

None have faced

On deck

Wednesday: vs. Rangers, 1:10, Sun Sports. Rays — David Price (6-4, 3.54); Rangers — Colby Lewis (4-5, 3.90)

Chief Seminole at the Trop

FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher grew up on the diamond, a good enough middle infielder to first earn a baseball scholarship to Clemson. Fisher, though, said he had no regrets about sticking with football. “It turned out pretty good,” he said. “But baseball is probably my first love.” Fisher was at the Trop Monday with his wife and Rays-loving sons, Trey and Ethan (with his dad at right), who threw out the first pitches to FSU fans B.J. Upton and Tom Foley. There also turned out to be a reunion with Rays radio man Dave Wills, who in 1988 was the PR man when Fisher played QB for the Arena league Chicago Bruisers.

And Lightning soon?

The Rays are working on inviting coach Guy Boucher and Lightning players to a game, manager Joe Maddon said. “We want to get him out, hang out a little bit, get some of the guys to take BP if they like — they’re good low-ball hitters.”

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Mike Napoli(notes) homered twice and drove in five
runs, leading the Texas Rangers to an 11-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on
Monday night.

Napoli homered for the third consecutive day, giving him four in three
games. No. 9 hitter Endy Chavez(notes) went deep for his second straight game, helping
the defending AL champions amass a season-high 20 hits in their first meeting
with Tampa Bay since Texas eliminated the Rays in the opening round of last
year’s playoffs.

Mitch Moreland(notes) also homered in support of Derek Holland(notes) (4-1), who allowed
five runs and five hits over 5 2-3 innings, but still won for the first time in
over a month. The left-hander gave up home runs to Ben Zobrist(notes) and Justin
Ruggiano(notes) in the sixth, when the Rays scored four times to trim an eight-run
deficit to 9-5.

Zobrist hit a solo homer and Ruggiano’s three-run shot chased Holland, who
had gone six starts without being involved in a decision since beating Kansas
City on April 22.

Mark Lowe(notes) struck out B.J. Upton(notes) with the bases loaded to end the sixth.
Darren Oliver(notes) got six outs and Dave Bush(notes) finished for the Rangers.

Napoli also connected Saturday and Sunday at home against Kansas City and is
7 for 12 with four homers and nine RBIs in the last three games. He had a
three-run homer off Wade Davis(notes) (4-5) in the third and a solo shot off Andy
Sonnanstine(notes) in the sixth before adding an RBI double off Juan Cruz(notes) in the
eighth.

Josh Hamilton(notes) had a run-scoring double and sacrifice fly for the Rangers,
who have hit 13 homers in their last three games. Adrian Beltre(notes) contributed a
RBI single to help Texas build a 9-1 lead.

Chavez, recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on May 14, homered for the second
time in three days after not having hit one in the major leagues since May 31,
2009, when he was with Seattle. He homered against Kansas City during a win
Saturday, then did not play in the Rangers’ 7-6 victory over the Royals on
Sunday.

Davis is 0-3 while allowing 19 runs in 21 2-3 innings over his past four
starts. He’s given up nine home runs in his past five outings after yielding one
in his first six starts of the season.

NOTES: Texas 2B Ian Kinsler(notes) had a scheduled day off. … Rays RHP Jeff
Niemann(notes) (strained lower back) threw a simulated game. … Rangers RHP Brandon
Webb(notes) allowed five runs and eight hits over 3 1-3 innings for Double-A Frisco
during his first appearance in an official game since his opening-day start for
Arizona on April 6, 2009. Webb is trying to come back from right rotator cuff
surgery. … CF Julio Borbon(notes), out with a sore left hamstring, was DH in the same
game as Webb and went 0 for 4. … Rays INF Felipe Lopez(notes) started at first base
in place of Casey Kotchman(notes), who is day to day after leaving Sunday’s game
against Cleveland with a right ankle sprain. … Rays SS Sean Rodriguez(notes)
committed three errors. The Rays had not had more than one in any game this
season.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Avril Lavigne’s lyrics may be just tame enough to be family-friendly, but the singer’s use of four-letter words during a performance after a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game has caused the  team to apologize to fans.

Lavigne threw out the first pitch at Saturday’s game without incident. But when it came time for her to perform afterwards, her microphone malfunctioned. Some in the crowd grew impatient and began booing, and Lavigne let a few profanities fly in response to the technical difficulties, TMZ reports.

She noted that malfunctions are common at concerts, especially those that take place in baseball stadiums.

The Rays issued this statement, in response to the incident:

“The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night’s show. It is not consistent with the family-friendly atmosphere that Tropicana Field is known for.”

Lavigne is currently preparing for a European tour in September.

By Daniel Russell

– Staff Writer

Follow @sbntampabay on Twitter, and

Like SB Nation Tampa Bay on Facebook.

May 30, 2011 –

After winning two of three against the major-league-best Cleveland, the Tampa Bay Rays continue their homestand with three games against the Texas Rangers. The Rays will see Derek Holland, who lasted a mere four innings against the Chicago White Sox in his last start, face off against Wade Davis – the only starter to get the win against Texas in last year’s playoffs. 

Rays fans should remember a painfully unlucky series from the ALDS in 2010. This will be the teams’ first meeting of since, without Cliff Lee this time. The Rays will still need to put up a fight, Texas is among the top ten teams in the majors for batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage and runs scored. Luckily the Texas rotation is injured (Matt Harrison, Eric Hurley, Tommy Hunter and Scott Feldman are on the disabled list) and the bullpen has been all but sleeping on the mound. If the Rays continue to swing a hot bat it will be an even series. 

What To Watch For

• Pitchers to struggle with command. Rays starter Wade Davis has sacrificed velocity for control in recent weeks and could try upping the speed as he’s gotten more comfortable, but there’s no guarantee the control will remain. Contrary, the former rookie-of-the-year closer Natalie Feliz has struggled, despite earning ten saves this season. Feliz has walked nine in 9.2 innings this month. 
• Where Evan Longoria will bat. In two games at leadoff, Longo has hit 4-7 with 3 runs and 3 walks including one homerun. Longoria had five hits in ten games prior to the change. At lead off he will have more at bats but less opportunity to bring runners home. To stay would be very unconventional, but Maddon may keep him there until the magic wears off.
• Casey Kotchman to sit. The veteran first baseman left yesterday’s game with an ankle injury in the fourth on a slide into second. He is listed as day-to-day, but with a lefty on the mound he may be given the day off in favor of the switch hitting Felipe Lopez. 
• Josh Hamilton to play the field. He returned to left on saturday after being sidelined with a broken arm. He would consider the DH position in the future, but with Michael Young and Adrian Beltre on the roster, the outfield remains the Rangers’ best choice. 
• The Rangers to be eager. 
  Texas will be on the road 17 of their next 20 games, starting tonight in the Trop, and will fight to start strong.

Read More: Wade Davis (P – TAM), Derek Holland (P – TEX), Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays

By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Monday, May 30, 2011

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ST. PETERSBURG — Evan Longoria‘s role as the Rays leadoff man may be short-lived, but he is hoping the lessons learned in the past two games will be lasting.

Longoria, who was stuck in a 6-for-45 slump with one RBI in 12 games before moving to the top of the order, has since gone 4-for-7 (.571) with a home run, double, three runs and three walks.

After reaching base seven times in the past two games against the Indians, Longoria told manager Joe Maddon it was exhausting being the catalyst.

“I told him, you’ve got to be in shape to lead off,” Longoria said. “It’s definitely a different role, something I’ve never experienced.

“I feel like I’m doing a good job of just seeing more pitches and getting into spots where I can actually swing the bat at a pitch I can handle. I felt like when I was in the third and fourth spot I was kind of pressing and swinging at pitches that I really can’t do anything with, and now I’m getting a little deeper in counts and giving myself an opportunity to have success.”

With the Rays facing Rangers LHP Derek Holland tonight, Longoria could be moved back to a more familiar spot in the middle of the order. Maddon was noncommittal after Sunday’s 7-0 win over the Indians.

“I’m going to sleep on it,” Maddon said.

Meanwhile, Longoria believes the experience will help him become a more patient hitter wherever he is in the lineup.

“That’s really the biggest thing, that if and when I do go back to the third or fourth slot, I need to realize I’m going to get maybe one or two pitches an at-bat and other than that, guys are going to try and make pitches and get you out … understanding I can’t hit every pitch and taking that mind-set back there,” he said.

COBB LIKELY TO START TUESDAY: The Rays are expected to recall RHP Alex Cobb from Triple-A Durham to start Tuesday’s game against the Rangers.

Cobb was scratched from his scheduled start for the Bulls on Sunday. The Rays will have to make a corresponding move to make room on the roster.

Apparently, the Rays plan a return to the bullpen for RHP Andy Sonnanstine, who became the fifth starter when Jeff Niemann went on the disabled list May 6 with a lower back strain. The Rays lost all three games Sonnanstine started in place of Niemann, who still is at least several weeks from rejoining the team.

Cobb, 23, made a spot start against the Angels May 1, working 41/3 innings and allowing four runs, four hits and four walks. The Rays believed Cobb was tipping his pitches.

There are several candidates in the bullpen to be sent down. Chief among them may be RHP Brandon Gomes (0-0, 2.89 ERA), who took over Sonnanstine’s long relief role and has made nine appearances since being recalled from Durham May 3.

Meanwhile, Niemann will have a 45-pitch simulated game today and could rejoin the club after three or four rehab assignments.

KOTCHMAN INJURED: Rays 1B Casey Kotchman left the game after the fourth inning with a right ankle sprain he sustained sliding into second in an unsuccessful attempt to stretch a single. He is day to day.

Kotchman, the former Seminole High star, is not expected to start today and will be replaced at first by Felipe Lopez.

“I hate to lose him. It’s not only about his offense, but his defense,” Maddon said.

MISCELLANY: RF Matt Joyce went hitless for the only the second time in his past 13 games. … Rays pitchers have recorded 26 starts of seven innings or more this season, tied with the White Sox for the second most in the majors. … The Rays recorded two shutouts in a series for the third time in club history.

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