Riggans' Injury Likely To Keep Him Out Only A Few Days

ST. PETERSBURG - When it comes to injuries, C Shawn Riggans always seems to find himself dealing with the worst-case scenario.

So he was pleasantly surprised when X-rays revealed he hadn't suffered any broken bones after being hit in the left hand by a pitch during Saturday's game.

"I definitely thought it was broken," Riggans said, "but I got the break that I've been looking for."

Riggans was drilled by Braves reliever Blaine Boyer in the ninth inning when he threw up his hands to protect himself as a pitch bored in toward his head. He immediately dropped to the ground and appeared to be in significant pain, leading to fears the injury would be worse than the initial diagnosis of a bruise.

"Luckily, it hit some of the meaty part of the hand rather than just straight on the bone," he said.

Riggans, who is expected to open the season as Dioner Navarro's backup, should miss only a few days before returning to action, but he knows how quickly things can change.

The Rays had hoped to get an extended look at what he could do behind the plate when they called him up last May after Josh Paul got hurt. But Riggans was coming off an elbow injury that never went away, and he played in only three games for the Rays before eventually undergoing season-ending surgery on July 27.

EXCHANGING PLEASANTRIES: There was no in-depth discussion between Akinori Iwamura and Shelley Duncan when Iwamura walked in the fifth inning of Saturday's game against the Yankees.

"He said hello to me and I said hello back to him - that was it," Iwamura said Sunday through an interpreter.

Iwamura said he didn't expect Duncan to offer up an apology for the spikes-high slide that ignited last week's brawl between the teams, "because if he apologized that would mean he knew it was intentional."

"I wasn't expecting it at all," he added. "Plus, this is baseball, it's a fight, and I didn't need any apology. This matter has already happened, so it's about time for us to move on."

DEJ VU: The Rays absorbed a home plate collision for the first time this spring Sunday, as Edgar Renteria bowled over Mike DiFelice while trying to score from first on a double in the sixth inning. DiFelice held onto Jason Bartlett's relay from Joel Guzman to tag Renteria out and said he had absolutely no problem with Renteria's play.

"I didn't think anything of it," DiFelice said. "I was taught to block the plate; it's a defensive play. We're supposed to stop runs, and I didn't think anything of it at all."

MORE INJURIES: LF Carl Crawford, scratched from Saturday's game with tightness in his legs, did not play Sunday but is on the travel roster for Tuesday's game at Clearwater. ... IF Andy Cannizaro (back pain) is not slated to play Tuesday. ... LHP Kurt Birkins has inflammation around the ulnar nerve in his elbow. He said the problem is "not anything major" and he dealt with a similar issue two years ago, but there is no timetable for him to get back on the mound. ... RHP Chad Orvella (biceps tendinitis) is "coming along," Madden said.

NOTEWORTHY: Sunday's game drew a crowd of 6,755, a record for a Rays spring training game. ... Army veterans Chief Petty Officer Eric Lally and First Class Petty Officer Elton Shaw, participated in batting practice and threw out a ceremonial first pitch. ... Andres Reiner, the pioneering scout who spearheaded baseball's move into Venezuela and is now a Rays special assistant, attended Sunday's game. Reiner is the subject of a new book written by Milton Jamail, the Rays' international player consultant.

Marc Lancaster