ANAHEIM, Calif. - Aubrey Huff played in his 303rd consecutive game Friday, the second-longest streak among active big-leaguers behind Baltimore's Miguel Tejada.
But if he doesn't start playing better, the streak won't stand in the way of him getting a day or two off.
"I hope we don't have to," manager Lou Piniella said. "But we might."
The streak isn't really the issue as Huff isn't going to challenge Cal Ripken's ironman record of 2,632 games anyway. Huff, 27, would have to play every game for the rest of this season and 131/2 more - when he'd be 41 - to come close.
The question is whether on any specific day the Rays are better off with Huff out of the lineup than in.
Huff, who is hitting .186 with one double and three home runs, said he doesn't think a day off would necessarily help.
"All that would do is give me more time to think about it," he said. "I'm not going to get out of this sitting on the bench."
His frustration, however, is becoming more obvious. After striking out in the fourth, he slammed his bat to the ground and had words with umpire C.B. Bucknor.
GOING DEEP: The Rays on Friday stopped a streak of allowing a home run in 17 games, which matched their team record set in September 2002. The last team to allow homers in 18 straight was the 2001 Royals.
BACK TO BACK: The Rays will go at least 30 games into the season without back-to-back victories.
Going back to the 1961 start of the expansion era, only four teams have gone as deep. The 1999 Marlins and 1988 Orioles did it in their 42nd games, the 1981 Cubs in their 36th game and the 2003 Tigers in their 30th game. Two others did it in their 29th game, the 1961 Senators and the 1992 Indians.
CATCHING ON: Toby Hall was catching again Friday, further making it clear that it is unclear how the playing time behind the plate will be divided. Piniella on Tuesday said Brook Fordyce would get a chance to catch more, but Hall started the past two games. Robert Fick, who has struggled as a DH (7-for-48), may also get in the mix; he pinch-hit for Hall in the eighth and took over as catcher in the bottom half.
SUPER-MAN: Seeing Hall waiting for him with the ball at home Thursday, Angels shortstop David Eckstein decided that rather than go under, around or through the catcher, he would try to leap over him.
Hall made the tag and basically gently flipped Eckstein over his shoulders. "My first thought was that I was going to get plowed over," Hall said. "I just tried to hold him up there."
Was Hall, who is 6 feet 3 and 240 pounds, really concerned about being run over by Eckstein, who probably isn't even the 5 feet 7 and 165 pounds at which he is listed?
"You never know," Hall said. "The little ones can be the heavy hitters."
MINOR MATTERS: Damian Moss made a successful debut at Triple-A Durham, pitching three shutout innings of relief Thursday. ... Left-hander Chris Seddon improved to 3-0 with an 0.78 ERA at Class A Bakersfield. ... Right-hander Franklin Nunez continues to impress; in 152/3 innings at Double-A Montgomery and Durham he has allowed one earned run.
HOT TOPIC: Cubs outfielder Moises Alou and Yankees catcher Jorge Posada admitting they use their own urine to harden their hands made for some interesting pregame discussion. Piniella found the whole thing a little hard to believe. "My God," he said. "I'd never heard of that."
MISCELLANY: Friday marked the 500th road game in Rays history; they are 210-290. ... The Rays are 7-5 in 1-0 games. ... Midre Cummings made his first start, batting third at DH. He went 0-for-4. ... Friday's game was the sixth this season in which the Rays didn't get an extra-base hit.
