Injury turns into blessing for Rolls

ST. PETERSBURG - Maybe in a weird sort of way, Damian Rolls dislocating his right thumb early this season was the best thing that could've happened to him.

No Rays hitter is hotter than Rolls, who has become the everyday third baseman, and he believes his injury contributed to his hot bat.

"It has actually kind of helped me in the long run," Rolls said. "I'm a lot more patient now at the plate, and swinging at pitches that I can hit. When I first came back, in the back of my mind I was staying away from pitches that would go off the end of the bat or would jam me because it would hurt my thumb. It doesn't hurt now, but I've become more of a patient hitter."

Rolls fractured the thumb on April 22 diving for a ball in rightfield and didn't return to the lineup until June 13. After a slow start, Rolls got on a roll last week. He hit his first three homers of the season, including two off the Yankees' Roger Clemens.

He went 7-for-14 against New York and hiked his average in the first seven games of the homestand from .222 to .270.

"The biggest thing is I'm getting my timing back after being out," Rolls said. "Not only that but playing every day, and getting more comfortable. The more at-bats I get, the more comfortable I get."

With the way he's hitting, he'll get plenty more at-bats.

"I'd like to think this is the way I hit," Rolls said. "Whatever it is, I just want to bottle this right now."

FATHERLY VIEW: Tom Grieve, former big-league player and general manager and current Rangers TV analyst, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Lou Piniella's criticism of son Ben last week was "a cheap shot, in my opinion, of the highest order."

Piniella said he became irate after Ben Grieve told him he didn't question a called third strike in Thursday's game because "it doesn't matter." Ben Grieve claimed Piniella misheard him and that what he said was he didn't complain because the umpire wouldn't care.

"I don't like to see (Piniella) get on TV in his bully pulpit and make up a lie and try to make it look as if Ben doesn't care, because a lot of people see that and believe it," Tom Grieve said. "Some things happen and you deserve to get chewed out. But that's not what Ben said and not what he meant. And in my opinion, Lou Piniella knew that."

PITCHING IN: The Rays shuffled their rotation, allowing Jason Standridge to pitch tonight on his regular fifth day instead of Wednesday against Boston ace Pedro Martinez. (Rob Bell gets that honor.)

Standridge has pitched well since his well-deserved June 10 promotion (a 4.56 ERA in four starts), just not well enough to win his first big-league game. The Rays have scored only 10 in his four starts, five in one game.

"I feel I'm just a couple pitches away every single time from having a really good game," Standridge said.

TAKING THE LEAD: The Rays have had several runners thrown out trying to score from second base on singles to the outfield. And Piniella isn't happy about it.

He is not upset with third-base coach Tom Foley but rather the small leads the Rays are taking off second, specifically that they are not moving off the bag as the pitch is being delivered.

"We're going to start working more on our secondary leads," Piniella said. "We're getting a lot of people thrown out at home plate. I know that the turf is quick, and I know these other teams are making some pretty good accurate throws, but we've got to improve in that area a little bit."

MISCELLANY: Reliever Mike Venafro, designated for assignment last week, was released. ... Rocco Baldelli is 11th among outfielders in the latest All-Star balloting with 333,135 votes. Online voting (mlb.com) ends at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. ... After losing a day off June 16 for the Hall of Fame exhibition, players and coaches spent Monday at the Rays of Hope charity golf tournament. ... Lance Carter is the 36th rookie to record at least 13 saves. ... Carl Crawford's next stolen base makes him the fourth Ray to swipe at least 20 in a season. ... Durham right-hander Delvin James was named International League pitcher of the week for June 23-29.