Back tightness slows Crawford

Carl Crawford didn't know exactly when he hurt his back Monday night, but when he couldn't catch up to a ball hit to left field by Aaron Hill in the second inning, he knew something was definitely wrong.

"I felt that's a ball I normally catch," Crawford said.

He finished the inning in the field but didn't return for the bottom of the third because of what he described as tightness "all across my lower back."

Manager Joe Maddon said the Rays don't believe the problem is serious but Crawford likely won't play today. That in itself is newsworthy, as Crawford has started all but four of the Rays' 124 games this season and played in all but two.

The All-Star admitted to being concerned about the situation, mainly because it's something completely new to him and he doesn't know how it's going to react.

"Never had a back problem before, so I don't know what this is coming from," Crawford said. "I know we just played 10 days on turf and I'm pretty sure that had something to do with it. But still, I never did think I'd ever have lower back problems."

Crawford said as far as he knew there were no specific tests scheduled for today. He plans to just come in and see how he feels, try to rest his back for a day and see if he can go Wednesday night.

Ben Zobrist moved to left field to replace him Monday night and Willy Aybar came on to play second base. Later in the game, Zobrist went back to his original position and Gabe Kapler came on as a defensive replacement in left.

Roster watch

A week from today, major-league teams can expand their active rosters to include anyone on the 40-man roster, and the Rays plan to shore up immediately, if not in huge numbers.

"You want to have extra help, you don't want to have a crowded room," Maddon said. "You want to be able to get guys off their feet in a blowout one way or the other, that's also important, so you have to have enough players on the bench to do things like that."

Maddon didn't name names Monday, but noted that it would be wise to have an extra catcher, infielder, outfielder and another pitcher or two. The Rays have experienced candidates at each position, with Shawn Riggans, Akinori Iwamura, Fernando Perez and Andy Sonnanstine available.

Of course, they also have Reid Brignac, Matt Joyce, Joe Dillon, Wade Davis and Dale Thayer, among other worthy candidates, but there may not be room for everyone as Maddon doesn't want to carry more players than he'll need.

"You're not just bringing in guys that you're trying out," Maddon said. "You're bringing in guys that you know that they can do it, they know your system, they know what's going on here. It's a much more comfortable moment, and it should be beneficial. If you have the ability to do that, it's always a better way to go."

Of course, there's always the possibility that more players could be added later in September because of injury or another need, but it seems the Rays are focused on keeping a manageable number of players on hand for the stretch run.

TV time

Tonight's Rays-Blue Jays game is one of only a handful that will not be televised this season. It originally had been slated to air locally, but when ESPN dropped its planned coverage of Sunday's game at Detroit, the Rays' television network opted to televise that game on Sun Sports and drop tonight's game.

Speaking of ESPN, the network has picked up the Rays' Sept. 2 game against the Red Sox and their Sept. 9 game at the Yankees to be televised to most of the country. They still can be seen locally on Rays TV.

Odds and ends

Zobrist fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle Monday and is hitting .405 in his past 10 games. ... The Rays named their prospects to play for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League: C Nevin Ashley, IF Cody Cipriano, RHP Matt Gorgen, IF Shawn O'Malley, RHP Paul Phillips and RHP Heath Rollins. ... Iwamura played an inning longer than planned in his rehab game with Durham on Sunday because he was feeling good and wanted another at-bat, Maddon said. ... Evan Longoria is the Rays' nominee for the MLB Players Association's annual Heart and Hustle Award, which was won last year by Indians OF Grady Sizemore.

Marc Lancaster