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Rays' Longoria to get an MRI

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 3, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG - Evan Longoria's workday began with a second consecutive start at DH due to recurring soreness in his arm and ended with a potentially more serious problem.

Longoria left Tuesday's game against Kansas City with tightness in his left hamstring after grounding out to third base leading off the sixth inning. He reached back to grab at the back of his left leg as he crossed the bag, then turned and walked gingerly toward the dugout. When the DH's spot came up again in the seventh, Gabe Gross came on to pinch-hit.

Longoria said after the game he wasn't worried about it and doesn't consider it anything serious.

"I didn't feel a pop, I didn't feel a pull, and I was able to walk," he said. "Hopefully it's just a day-to-day thing."

The Rays, however, seemed ready to pull back the reins a bit.

Manager Joe Maddon had a lengthy closed-door meeting with head trainer Ron Porterfield following the game and later said Longoria will undergo an MRI exam today. Hamstring injuries have a tendency to get worse in a hurry when a player tries to play through them, so perhaps it wasn't surprising that Maddon seemed more circumspect about what was happening than Longoria.

"Of course - hamstrings, you're always concerned about," Maddon said, adding that he understood why Longoria might put a positive spin on a situation.

"Longo is a definite stallion when it comes to wanting to play this game," Maddon said. "He knows his role within our group, he knows his place within the game already - he knows all that. And he knows for us to get back to the promised land, he's got to be there. He knows that."

Either way, no one suggested it was a serious issue that could put Longoria on the shelf for the long-term.

"I really haven't ever had any hamstring problems, and I take pretty good care of them, too," he said. "I think if it was something serious I'd been feeling it right now a lot more than I am."

Star of stars

Longoria can only hope the injury isn't a setback to his All-Star candidacy.

After trailing Yankees SS Derek Jeter by 570 votes for the overall lead in the AL last week, Longoria made a big run to assume the top spot. He had 1,036,071 votes to Jeter's 1,017,560 and has collected more than twice as many votes as any other AL third baseman.

Also moving up this week were Jason Bartlett, who jumped from fourth place to second behind Jeter among shortstops with 435,456 votes, and Carl Crawford, up one spot to fifth in the outfield with 452,849.

Injury updates

Maddon didn't have any specifics regarding when Burrell or Scott Kazmir might be ready to return but said both were making progress.

Burrell has "much better range of motion in his neck," according to Maddon, and will ramp up his hitting activity the rest of the week. A rehab assignment for Burrell is a possibility considering how long the DH has been sidelined, Maddon said.

The Rays continue to work with Kazmir on his mechanics and they aren't discussing any timetable they might have for his return to the mound, but Maddon said he didn't think it would drag on to the point that Kazmir wouldn't return until after the All-Star break.

"I don't think so," Maddon said. "I really don't think so. I'm kind of encouraged with our talk today and what we've got going on. I feel pretty good about it, actually."

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