Maddon mixes things up

One night after his pinch-hit grand slam lifted the Rays to a comeback victory, super utilityman Ben Zobrist was not in the lineup for Saturday night's game against the White Sox.

Manager Joe Maddon opted for the right-handed-hitting Gabe Kapler over the switch-hitting Zobrist against LHP Mark Buehrle. He said Zobrist, who got a start at second base Thursday, will play shortstop today while Jason Bartlett gets a day off.

"Part of it is Gabe Kapler came here for a specific reason his right-handed bat, and we've got to get him going," Maddon said. "He did a really good job last year at Milwaukee, hit over .300 .301 with that."

Zobrist, who was 2-for-2 on Friday, was hitting .273 overall and .400 from the right side entering Saturday's game. Kapler, signed to compete for a platoon job in right field, was at .125 (2-for-16), including a strikeout against Yankees OF Nick Swisher on Monday.

Maddon rotates all of his bench players into the lineup, adhering to a philosophy that playing time keeps the reserves ready and promotes better clubhouse chemistry because everyone feels like a contributor.

"I think if you want your bench players to play well, you'd best give them a chance to play during the course of the week, and not just once a week," he said.

Faith repaid

Zobrist was in the batting cage adjacent to a stadium tunnel Friday night when he got the call to pinch hit for Gabe Gross in the sixth inning against LHP Matt Thornton. His grand slam erased a 5-2 deficit, and Tampa Bay held on for a 6-5 victory.

Slow developing as a major-league hitter, the 27-year-old Zobrist said he appreciates the faith Maddon showed in sticking with him when he was struggling at the plate.

"... A guy in my situation a couple of years ago, some managers would've just buried me," he said. "Joe continues to try and build confidence in me when I didn't have any confidence when I was struggling trying to figure out where my place was up here.

"That confidence just kind of blew up last year once I started being able to hit the ball out of the ballpark."

Longoria streaking

3B Evan Longoria received his AL Rookie of the Year award before the game and promptly extended his season-opening hitting streak to 10 games with a first-inning single.

Rocco Baldelli hit safely in his first 13 games in his rookie season of 2003, the Rays' record to start a season.

Pena in sync

When Maddon refers to 1B Carlos Pena being "quiet" at the plate, he isn't talking about his bat. Pena entered Saturday's games with a major league-leading six home runs, a .286 batting average and 13 RBIs.

"What he's doing is just right," Maddon said. "He's getting his foot down in time, he's seeing the ball well, he's not jumpy, he's not trying to do too much. He's using the whole field."

Pena's 12 home runs in the last two Aprils were tied for the most in the majors entering Saturday's games, and his 83 homers since 2007 are tied for fourth-most during that time.

He said Saturday that whenever he's hitting well, it's because he's simplifying the process.

"I'm trying to see the ball and trust my hands," he said. "When I do that, I allow myself, I allow my talent to express itself. So for me, it's more of me staying out of my own way than anything else."

Tony Fabrizio