Akinori Iwamura, who was Tampa Bay’s everyday second baseman in 2008 when the team made a run to the World Series, was traded to the Pirates for Jesse Chavez, a relief pitcher. Iwamura will likely become Pittsburgh’s everyday second baseman.

In 2009, Iwamura’s season was cut sure due to a knee injury. The 30-year-old native of Japan hit .290 with 22 RBIs and 28 runs in 231 at-bats. In 2008, he hit .274 with six homers, 48 RBIs, 91 runs and an on-base percentage of .349.

Chavez pitched in 73 games last year for the Pirates and posted a 4.01 ERA. It was the 26-year-old’s first full season in the big leagues.

The Rays were able to trade Iwamura since Ben Zobrist emerged as a potential star at second base last year after Iwamura’s injury.

Akinori Iwamura is the new second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates (Image: Zuma Press)

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Akinori Iwamura Traded to the Pirates

Against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeter finished 3-for-4 to raise his batting average on the season to .330. The shortstop also has 17 homers, 62 RBIs and 97 runs.

To add to Jeter’s day, the Yankees were able to beat the Rays on Wednesday. Down 0-2 heading into the eighth inning, New York scored four runs in the inning. Jorge Posada’s three-run blast was the big hit.

With his next hit, Jeter will become the Yankee with the most hits in the history of the team. He’ll be ahead of an impressive list of names including Gehring, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Don Mattingly and Yogi Berra.

Derek Jeter Ties Lou Gehrig (Image: Zuma Press)

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Derek Jeter Ties Lou Gehrig on Hits List

After getting hit on his left hand by a fastball thrown by C.C. Sabathia of the New York Yankees, Pena broke two fingers — ending his season. X-rays showed that he broke his index and middle fingers. Pena knew there was trouble right away.

Said Pena: “I knew when the ball hit me it was going to be bad. You don’t take a 95 mph fastball on the finger and live to tell about it — or the finger live to tell about it.”

To finish the 2009 baseball season, Pena totaled 39 homers, 100 RBIs and 91 runs. The only blemish on his stats is his .227 batting average. Both his batting average and on-base percentage have fallen each year while with the Rays. That said, the Rays would have been out of the playoff picture a long time ago if it wasn’t for the native of the Dominican Republic.

As it is, Pena is unlikely to miss any playoff action this year because Tampa Bay has fallen out of the chase. For the AL Wild Card, the Rays are 7.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox and 5 games behind the Texas Rangers.

Carlos Pena - Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Zuma Press)

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Carlos Pena Out for the Season

Coming into the game with a 2.08 ERA, Greinke gave up ten hits, six earned runs and three walks in only five innings. The loss gave Greinke a 10-7 record on the season and his ERA jumped to 2.36.

The star at the plate for the Rays was All-Star MVP Carl Crawford. He finished with three hits in five at-bats to go along with three RBIs, one run and his 49th stolen base. DH Willy Aybar hit two solo homers — in the fifth inning and the seventh inning.

With the loss, the Royals fell to 41-64. After a good start to the season, the Royals now have the worst record in the American League. Only the Washington Nationals have a worse record.

Although the Rays improved to 58-48, they are still 5.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East and five games behind the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card race.

Zack Greinke - Kansas City Royals (Image: Zuma Press)

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Zack Greinke Hit Hard as Rays Cruise

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)

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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)

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Evan Longoria Bashes Rays Past Red Sox

In five innings of work, Wakefield allowed seven hits and two walks while allowing five earned runs and striking out five batters. His ERA for the season is now 2.91 and he has a record of 3-1.

At the plate, Mike Lowell was 2-for-5 including a homer in the fifth inning. Reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia was 2-for-3 with two runs, one RBI and three walks.

For the Rays, Carlos Pena was the hitting star. He hit his 11th home run of the season in the 4th inning and finished the night 2-for-3 with one run, two RBI and two walks. Starting pitcher Jeff Niemann got lit up in his three innings of work — allowing five earned runs on seven hits.

With the win, the Red Sox improved their record to 15-9. The loss dropped Tampa Bay to 10-15.

Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox (Image: Flickr)

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Tim Wakefield Helps Red Sox Top Rays

Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox (Image: Newscom)

In seven innings, Beckett allowed only two hits and one earned run, while striking out ten batters. That effort helped lead the Red Sox to a 5-3 victory and get Boston off to a good start for their 2009 season.

At the plate, reigning American League MVP Dustin Pedroia hit a homer in the first inning and later scored again after drawing a walk. Jason Varitek added a home run in the sixth inning.

For the Rays, James Shields struggled in his 5.1 innings, giving up five earned runs, nine hits and three walks. The big bats in the lineup were also quiet. Carlos Pena, Pat Burrell and Matt Joyce, the fourth, fifth and sixth batters in the lineup, combined to go 0-for-12 with six strikeouts.

These two teams, who battled last year in the postseason, face each other on Wednesday with Boston’s Jon Lester pitching against Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir.

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Josh Beckett Dominates in Red Sox Opener

The first part of the Palin video is her speaking in New England and trying to get the support of Red Sox fans. The second part of the video has her speaking in Florida while trying to get Rays fans excited.

Since these speeches, the Rays have reached the World Series — but they lost Game 1 on Wednesday. The Red Sox, on the other hand, were eliminated shortly after Palin spoke. That sound you hear is Philadelphia Phillies fans hoping she doesn’t come to Pennsylvania.

Here is the Sarah Palin video of her recycled speeches to Red Sox and Rays fans:

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Sarah Palin Video – Red Sox and Rays Recycled Speeches