Rays' Maddon gives Peña a breather against Angels

Carlos Peña sat for the start of a game for the first time this season Tuesday against the Los ANgeles Angels of Anaheim, because it was his turn and, well, because he had one hit in his last 40 at-bats and none in his last 14.

Manager Joe Maddon moved Ben Zobrist to first base and used Willy Aybar as the designate hitter against the left-hander Scott Kazmir to get another right-handed bat in the lineup and to have more options late in the game if he wanted to use Peña as a pinch-hitter.

Peña said he was fine with the day off, though he entered in the bottom of the seventh inning as a defensive replacement.

"Whenever Joe says, 'Hey, I'm going to give you a break,' I'm never doubtful of his decisions. I'm like, I'm taking a break," Peña said. "We don't get many of them throughout the year and I want to take advantage when he believes it's the right time. Plus, I don't want to go against the current. Even though my first instinct is, 'No, I want to play,' I think, wait a second, don't go against the current ever. Joe is very smart. He knows his players, he's knows what he's doing. If he thinks it's good to take a day off, take it. Personally, I want to play 162 games."

Maddon said he wanted to give Peña mental break as well. His swing isn't where it should be and he's chasing pitches out of the strike zone.

Peña, who is batting .189 and doesn't have an RBI in his last 10 games and a home run in his last 11, bristled at the notion he is in a slump.

"Am I really struggling at the plate? Not really," he said. "I'm not on fire, but I'm not an easy out. I'm a tough out. I'm putting the balls in play hard. I'm going through a little bit of an unfortunate period where the balls are not falling, or went through it. So I got to be very good about how I look at my stuff so it doesn't get distorted in my head, because what I see might not be all true. I go back and look at the video and see 12 times where if the ball fell five times it's just a little bit of a tough time instead of a so-called slump."

Zobrist has been taking ground balls at first base during batting practice during this West Coast swing in anticipation of Tuesday's start.

He made two starts at first base last season, so he has a working knowledge of the position.

"The second time I was decidedly more comfortable," he said. "Hopefully, I won't be as uncomfortable as I was the first time."

Zobrist was asked if this might be prep work for sometime down the road when the Rays might need a fulltime first baseman.

"I have no idea," he said. "I never thought of it that way. I've always thought of it as something where I have to be ready when they need me."

Peña said he balked when Maddon told him Monday that he would be off Tuesday, but quickly realized it was the right move. While he insists he's not in a slump, he would take advantage of the mental break.

"There's no beef from me," he said. "I'm going to take advantage of my day off, breathe, relax and be ready to play later on if I'm needed."