Evan Longoria News

As painful as it has been to watch at times, Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg feels pretty good - "outstanding" actually - about his team.

The latest example of Maddon's tinkering outside the box was playing first base and hitting at the top of his team's lineup in last night's 7-4 win over the Red Sox [ team stats ] at Fenway Park [ map ] . Rays slugger Carlos Pena made his third start in the leadoff spot for the Rays this season.

Jon Lester's schizophrenic season continued on Friday night, and it appears that his bad side is once again reigning supreme.

Rays superstar Evan Longoria has not played a single game in May thanks to an injury on the final day of April that forced him to the disabled list.

For a team that has existed for less than fifteen years, the Tampa Bay Rays have hit a lot of memorable home runs.

EVER since the Cleveland Indians put three infielders to the right of second base in 1948 against Ted Williams , a left-handed batter who rarely hit ground balls the opposite way, baseball teams have deployed defensive shifts against powerful lefties.

THE CONTENTS: The Red Sox return home to Fenway for a seven-game homestand, kicking it off with three against the Rays.

First baseman Carlos Pena can't reach a throw from James Shields in a game against Atlanta on May 18.

If someone asked you back in February how the three-four punch of Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko would rank among similar tandems throughout the American League, you could be forgiven for thinking somewhere in the middle of the pack.

The Rays Baseball Foundation and Helios Education Foundation are partnering to provide $1 million in college scholarships for students participating in Take Stock in Children in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, Manatee and Pasco counties.

Rays manager Joe Maddon is secretive about how he comes up with his ever-changing Tampa Bay Rays batting orders, but it's becoming clear what one of his favorite slump-busters is.

Age and injuries are the great equalizers and the three powerhouse teams in the ultra-competitive American League East division -- Yankees, Red Sox and Rays -- have cornered those markets.

Batting out of the leadoff spot, the Rays' Carlos PeA a launches a three-run homer that traveled an estimated 452 feet.

Strasburg will be the ace of a formidable starting rotation for years to come, and Bryce Harper will anchor the outfield and the lineup with his five-tool talent.

Carlos Pe na 's first reaction when he saw his name atop the lineup posted outside the Rays clubhouse was that it was a joke, and he asked security man Tom Berte if he were the culprit.

For the longest time now, we've had it drilled into our heads that Matt Joyce is a platoon player.

The Rays' Jeff Keppinger, being tagged out at the plate during a game against the Yankees this month, has a broken big toe on his right foot.

Neftali Feliz 's DL stint marks the first change to their opening-day roster. 2. Dodgers : With Matt Kemp sidelined, Scott Van Slyke has come through.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded the recently acquired Drew Sutton to the Tampa Bay Rays for aA player to be named.A A He was a Pittsburgh Pirate in theory only, the infielder will join the Rays big league club tonight.A Sutton helps the Rays while Evan Longoria and Brandon Allen recover from injuries.

The ever-increasing number of players on the DL means that managers need to be on the waiver wire as often as possible.