The MRI results showed good news for Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays. Although he may be out for a couple days, the doctors do not believe that Longoria will need to go on the disabled list. If the MRI would have shown a pull or a strain, the Rays likely would have put their star second baseman on the DL.

At 26-28 in the highly competitive AL East, the Rays couldn’t afford to lose arguably their best player. Already six games behind the division-leading New York Yankees, Tampa Bay needs to start playing at the level that allowed them to represent the American League in the 2008 World Series.

Longoria has definitely been doing his part. He’s hitting .322 with 13 homers and an MLB-leading 55 RBIs. At 23, Longoria already a star who appears like he’s going to end up starting the 2009 All-Star Game for the AL.

Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

Evan Longoria – DL Stint Unlikely

In his second season in the big leagues, Longoria might be the hottest hitter in the entire game. Against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, he went 2-for-4 with a walk, three runs and five RBI. In the first inning, Longoria hit a two-run homer that put the Rays up for good. When the bashing was all done, the Rays had a 14-5 victory over the Red Sox.

Helping Longoria bash were Carlos Pena, Pat Burrell, Akinori Iwamura and Ben Zobrist. Each of those hitters finished with two RBI. On the mound, Scott Kazmir gave up three earned runs in five innings to pick up his fourth win of the season and lower his ERA to 5.92.

For the Red Sox, Jon Lester gave up eight earned runs in 4.1 innings and now has a 6.31 ERA on the season. Despite the loss, the Red Sox are still 19-12 on the season, while the Rays are 15-17.

The 23-year-old Longoria is hitting .367 with 11 homers and 44 RBI. The RBI total is the highest in all of Major League Baseball. If he keeps hitting at this pace, he may get his own ABC television show before too much longer.

Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Newscom)

Post from: EveryJoe

Evan Longoria Bashes Rays Past Red Sox

Unless our Blog Foddah Radar is slightly out of tune and needs recalibration, this marks the first bench clearing brawl of the pre-season.

The teams made it all of two innings before tempers flared. (Sort of. A homeplate crash that injured a Bronx Bombers would-be catcher set the tone between these teams several days ago.)

In the first inning, Yankees pitcher Heath Phillips got yanked—pun intended—for beaning Rays prospect Evan Longoria, who is an actual male and not a post-sex change Eva Longoria or anything. When Shelley Duncan of the Yankees slid spikes up into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura, all h-e-double-hockey-sticks broke loose.

And baseball fans everywhere rejoiced.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bench-Clearing Brawl Between Yanks and Rays