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Upton Suffers Bone Bruise

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 21, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE - Five weeks of spring training have passed relatively smoothly for the Rays, so Saturday probably qualified as the worst day to date.

Between a rainout in the scheduled Grapefruit League game against Baltimore and B.J. Upton being hit in the hand by a pitch in a minor-league contest back in Port Charlotte, not much went right for Tampa Bay.

The news could have been worse for Upton, who was hit at the base of his left pinky finger while playing for Triple-A Durham against Pawtucket, Boston's top affiliate. Upton left the game immediately and went for X-rays, which came back negative. He was diagnosed with a bone bruise.

Though he yelled, dropped his bat and threw down his helmet after he was hit, Upton later told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune he wasn't too concerned.

"It should be all right," he said. "No problem."

Upton will be examined again today. The Rays had been hoping to ease him into Grapefruit League games by the middle of the week as he continues his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, and it remains to be seen whether this will affect that timetable.

Speaking of schedules, the cancellation of Saturday's game with the Orioles threw the Rays' pitching plans for a loop as well.

Andy Sonnanstine and David Price were supposed to face the Orioles but instead will pitch today in Port Charlotte along with originally scheduled starter James Shields. However, Shields and Sonnanstine will be pitching in a minor-league game at 11:30 a.m., and Price will get the ball against the Yankees in the main game at 1 p.m.

Most of the Rays' frontline relievers also will pitch today in one game or the other, with Troy Percival, Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, Brian Shouse and Jason Isringhausen all on tap for work.

Joe Nelson and Lance Cormier pitched in a minor-league game Saturday.

THEY PULL YOU BACK IN

Saturday's game was called about 25 minutes before the scheduled first pitch, even as the second round of showers to pour over the stadium was giving way to a brief burst of sunshine.

It didn't matter that the skies had dried up; the field had not. Standing water was evident all around the tarp that had been rolled out over the infield around 11 a.m. and both dugouts were flooded, with water at least a foot deep in each. Some of the workers who moved in to retrieve the Rays' equipment and put it back on the bus were wearing knee-high rubber boots.

The weather made for an uneventful day for the players and coaches that boarded the bus in Port Charlotte at 7:30 a.m. and did so again in Fort Lauderdale about five hours later with nothing to show for it.

"We're just going to stop and get a movie for the ride back, stop at Blockbuster or someplace else and make sure we get a good flick," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We'll probably watch all three episodes of 'The Godfather' by the time we get back."

BASEBALL AMBASSADORS

The exchange program Manager Joe Maddon had envisioned with the Rays' major- and minor-league players all under one roof went into effect Friday.

The big-league players who didn't make the trip to Dunedin stretched and worked out with the minor-leaguers back in Port Charlotte, and Pat Burrell spent a half-hour or so speaking to the younger players about hitting. Carlos Pena was scheduled to do the same Saturday.

The visitors even wore their pant cuffs up high, exposing plenty of dark blue sock at the bottom - a look that is mandatory for minor-league players.

"I guess that was kind of a neat moment," Maddon said.

NOTEWORTHY

The Rays expect their biggest crowd of the spring today and encourage fans to carpool and arrive early. A very limited number of standing-room tickets were still available. ... The Charlotte Stone Crabs sold out every fixed seat in 25 minutes Saturday for their April 9 home opener, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. General admission tickets remain available.

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