ARLINGTON, Texas - When Midre Cummings got the call late Tuesday telling him he was going back to the big leagues, he didn't believe the news.
Being out of the majors since 2001 made him wonder if it would ever happen, but he thought the call was retribution for a prank he pulled on Triple-A Durham teammate Jared Sandberg a few days earlier.
"I figured it was payback," Cummings said.
Actually, it was no joke. Cummings, 32, was called up to the Devil Rays on Wednesday, and Damian Rolls was sent down.
Cummings was a first-round draft pick of the Twins in 1990 and played parts of nine seasons as an outfielder with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, Minnesota and Arizona. But as late as February he was working out near his Tarpon Springs home without a contract for this season and with a lot of doubts if he'd get another shot.
"I've been lost in the shuffle of the minor leagues the last couple years, and it was not fun," Cummings said.
The Rays offered a minor-league contract, and he made the best of it, hitting .349 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 22 games at Durham and getting the chance to get back to the big leagues.
"I can't write a better finish," Cummings said. "But this is just one chapter and I have to continue. This is where it starts."
ROLLING WITH IT: Rolls was disappointed but not surprised to be sent to Durham, where he will work primarily at second base.
Rolls was the opening day third baseman after a strong spring but hadn't played much since Aubrey Huff was moved to third (hitting .158 in 15 games), and the Rays needed another left-handed bat on the bench.
"We need him to be able to play at least one of the middle (infield) positions," manager Lou Piniella said. "We'll have him back here this summer."
Rolls said he would work hard: "I'll just go try to learn another position and add another notch on my belt."
TUNA TIME: Piniella enjoyed a lengthy pregame visit with Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, a longtime friend from their days in New York.
"He's my new attitude coach," Piniella said.
The two go back nearly 20 years, living in neighboring New Jersey towns and having kids who went to high school together. "I like to talk football with him and he enjoys talking baseball with me, obviously," Piniella said.
The two were able to compare a few notes. "He has some baseball players over there (Quincy Carter, Drew Henson, Chad Hutchinson) and I told him I know why they're playing football: They couldn't hit the curveball."
The Rays have a few former football players on their team, including Carl Crawford, who would have played quarterback at Nebraska if he didn't sign with the Rays.
Parcells asked Crawford how fast he was and didn't seem quite sold when Crawford told him. "If he wants to sign me to one of those (dual-sport) deals like Deion Sanders, I'll show him I can run a 4.30 40," Crawford said.
HERNANDEZ HURTING: Pitching coach Chuck Hernandez still isn't sure what caused the pain and massive swelling in his right calf, but he was feeling better Wednesday. "They said it might have been some kind of cyst that broke and blew a lot of fluids into it," Hernandez said. "It's nothing serious, but it hurts like hell."
BIG HITTERS: The five runs the Rays scored on five home runs Tuesday matched an obscure feat: the most runs scored in a one-run win when all the runs came on solo homers. The Pirates did it in a 5-4 win at Los Angeles on May 7, 1973. ... It was the third time they hit as many as five homers in a game, following five on April 22, 2000, against Anaheim and six on Aug. 10, 2002 at Kansas City. ... Geoff Blum became the 33rd player to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game more than once.
MISCELLANY: Rocco Baldelli returned to centerfield after being limited the previous two days due to a stiff neck. ... Jorge Sosa tied a Durham record with 10 strikeouts Tuesday and has fanned 19 in eight Triple-A innings.
