Reyes Remains Inconsistent

The last time RHP Al Reyes came off the disabled list, he didn't allow a hit in his first seven appearances or a run in his first nine.

The results haven't been quite the same this time around, as Reyes has been markedly inconsistent since coming off the DL following the All-Star break. He did a nice job Saturday night, inducing three straight ground balls to get out of an inning and ultimately pick up his second win of the year, but it was a different story Sunday.

Relieving Andy Sonnanstine with two on and two out in the seventh, Reyes got ahead of Billy Butler 0-2 but allowed the count to go full, with a stolen base and wild pitch mixed in to ratchet up the tension a bit. Butler then ripped a change-up down the line and just inside the left-field foul pole for a three-run homer that iced the game.

Reyes then allowed a single to Alex Gordon, who had looked bad in three prior at-bats against Sonnanstine, before Trever Miller took over. Though reports on Reyes were good during his lengthy rehab stint, Manager Joe Maddon noted a few days earlier that his closer from a year ago had been "a little bit inconsistent" since being activated.

Sunday, Maddon said he felt good about using the veteran in that situation. But Reyes wasn't up to the task.

"I don't know what it is," Reyes said. "I'm not going to make any excuses. Sometimes if you don't execute and make your pitches, you miss your location, you pay for it. You just try to be consistent and keep throwing strikes."

NO EXCUSES: Maddon didn't just address Akinori Iwamura about the second baseman failing to score on B.J. Upton's bloop double in the eighth inning Saturday night; he held a brief but emphatic team meeting immediately following the game.

In light of that discussion, Maddon's answer came quickly prior to Sunday's game when asked if he expected Iwamura to be motoring around the bases the day after the incident.

"I think today they all will," Maddon said.

TICK-TOCK: RHP Gary Glover accompanied the Rays to Kansas City but was not on the charter flight to Toronto on Sunday. Instead, he flew home to Tampa - a likely indication that the Rays will designate him for assignment today, though the team would not acknowledge that Sunday.

Glover was eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list Saturday and Maddon admitted Sunday that the reliever was ready to be activated. The Rays already had bought some time with the pitcher by putting him on the DL with a left calf strain last Sunday when they needed to clear a roster spot for Troy Percival to come off the DL. Glover appeared to be the odd man out in the bullpen upon Percival's return anyway, and at this point there are no clear paths for him to return to the roster barring an injury to another pitcher.

Glover has a 5.82 ERA in 29 relief appearances this season and opponents are hitting .300 against him.

SLOW AND STEADY: Maddon was asked if the Rays might ramp up Rocco Baldelli's rehab a bit since he has fared well lately in Montgomery.

"No," Maddon said flatly. "Stay with the plan. ... For me, I would just rather him make steady progress and see where it takes us."

The Biscuits were off Sunday.

THANKS FOR PLAYING: Eric Hinske led off the ninth as a pinch-hitter Sunday and promptly got hit by a Joakim Soria pitch. The timing was suspicious, as a couple of errant Jason Hammel deliveries had put Esteban German on the deck before German flied out to end the bottom of the eighth, and Maddon said he wasn't "quite sure" whether to read anything into it.

This was Hinske's take:

"I was pinch-hitting, watching a 100-degree-weather game, going in in the ninth off the closer in a five-run game and he hits me. So you can imagine what I was thinking. Good day at the yard. No hard feelings, though."

MEET YOU THERE: DH Cliff Floyd is expected to rejoin the team today after missing the past two games following the birth of his daughter Saturday.

Marc Lancaster