Rays' Crawford starting to feel better

Carl Crawford remained out of the lineup Wednesday as expected, but he said his sore back definitely felt better than it had the day before and he hopes to return for Friday's game.

"I'm going to try my best to be ready for Detroit," Crawford said. "I can't say (for sure), but that's what I'm shooting for right now."

Manager Joe Maddon said that after consulting with head trainer Ron Porterfield he believes Crawford should be ready for the opener against the Tigers and "if not, definitely Saturday."

Crawford continued to receive treatment, including various stretching exercises. But he could measure his progress by his success in accomplishing one simple act that wasn't possible the day before:

"I can tie my shoes today," he said.

Crawford believes playing so many games on artificial turf might have contributed to his back troubles, as was the case in the past when he had hamstring issues.

Maddon was asked if he might consider spotting Crawford as the DH in some remaining home games to ease the wear and tear and said he'd think about it.

"I've just got to keep a closer eye on that, and it is a possibility we do something like that," Maddon said.

Protection racket: Maddon rolled out an unusual lineup Wednesday night, with the streaking Carlos Pena moved up to third in the order against LHP Marc Rzepczynski, and Evan Longoria and Pat Burrell hitting behind him.

It marked the first time this season Pena batted third and the first time Longoria hit anywhere but third in the order - though Longoria did start in the cleanup spot 33 times last year.

Why the shakeup? Basically, because Pena has been hitting too well.

"You see what Carlos has done more recently - I'm betting that if he hits fifth he doesn't see anything anywhere near the strike zone tonight," Maddon said before the game. "I felt, in order to get him a pitch tonight at all, I wanted to move him up in the batting order.

"I thought the only place he would be protected would be in front of Longo and Pat."

One other notable departure from the usual formula was motivated by considerations that had nothing to do with offense. Gregg Zaun got his first start against a left-hander since joining the Rays because Maddon felt he worked especially well with Scott Kazmir in the lefty's previous start.

"I just wanted to give it another go," Maddon said.

Finally, after hitting B.J. Upton sixth the previous day against LHP Brett Cecil, Maddon dropped him back to eighth and put Gabe Kapler behind Burrell. Kapler entered the game hitting .291 against lefties, while Upton was hitting a miserable .184.

Some good news: Montgomery LHP Darin Downs was released from St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham on Wednesday, just more than a week after he was hit in the head by a line drive.

The Rays said Downs was headed home to West Palm Beach, where he will remain under a doctor's care, but he is expected to make a full recovery and resume pitching next season.