Rays/MLB

Upton okay; Rays not

First, the top prospect (day to day) strains his shoulder. Then the pen allows four homers in a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published August 18, 2006

	[Times photo: James Borchuck]
	Third-base coach Tom Foley checks on B. J. Upton in the third. Upton strained his left shoulder while swinging at a pitch but is day to day.

ST. PETERSBURG - B.J. Upton swung the bat. That's all he did.

The Devil Rays third baseman took a hack at A.J. Burnett's third-inning fastball, missed, grabbed his left shoulder and crumbled in pain.

It apparently was worse than it looked.

Still the crowd of 8,697 at Tropicana Field went silent, manager Joe Maddon and assistant trainer Paul Harker ran to the rescue and everyone held their breath.

"I didn't know what the heck was going on," Maddon said.

The Blue Jays defeated Tampa Bay 6-2 Thursday night in a game that displayed all that is good and bad about the Devil Rays' season.

Scott Kazmir was dynamic, getting his first seven outs by strikeout and striking out 10 in five innings. Carl Crawford was scintillating with three hits and three stolen bases for the second straight game.

But the offensively challenged Rays got just three more hits, and the bullpen, which entered the game second worst in the American League, allowed four home runs in two innings to blow a 2-0 lead.

Lyle Overbay and Reed Johnson went deep in the seventh off Jon Switzer to tie the score. Bengie Molina and Gregg Zaun hit two-run blasts in the eighth off Brian Meadows as the Rays (48-73) lost for the eighth time in nine games.

But in a season that long ago devolved into survival mode, the sight of Upton, one of the Rays' brightest young stars, crouched next to the plate with head down while Harker gave aid was all that really mattered.

Upton, who turns 22 Monday, left the game with what the team said is a strain. He is day to day.

"It was sharp," Upton said of the pain. "But it went away right away."

It is another blow to a fractured lineup already without Ty Wigginton (broken hand), Greg Norton (strained hamstring) and Aubrey Huff and Julio Lugo, who were traded.

Upton's injury was unusual, to say the least.

As he swung at a 1-and-1 pitch, his arms seemed to flail. His face contorted, he dropped his bat and crouched.

"When someone swings the bat like that and grabs his shoulder, you think the worst," Kazmir said.

Said Maddon: "The way he finishes his swing, his arm releases so much, I can see that happening to him. He was in pain."

The only person apparently not worried was Upton, who said he experienced the problem before, most recently last season at Triple-A Durham. He said the pain subsides quickly and usually he is ready in a day or two.

"That's what's so funny," he said. "You swing so many times and then, boom, that happens."

Kazmir was lowering the boom on the Blue Jays.

The left-hander struck out Toronto's first four batters. Molina, recently voted by players as the majors' slowest runner, broke the streak with a triple as rightfielder Russell Branyan dived and missed his sinking liner.

Kazmir allowed two hits and walked three before 89 pitches ended his outing.

He gave Maddon a scare when he rotated his arm after a fifth-inning pitch to John McDonald.

Maddon trotted to the mound. But Kazmir, making just his second start since a stint on the disabled list with rotator cuff inflammation, said he was fine.

"He said, 'I'm sorry for the gesticulations, the antics,' " Maddon said.

Said Kazmir: "He didn't like the airplane thing."

Especially after what happened to Upton.

[Last modified August 18, 2006, 02:27:13]