Tempers have been escalating with the Tampa Bay clubhouse and on Sunday they boiled over into the dugout during the Rays’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After going hitless against Edwin Jackson in his 149-pitch performance on Saturday, the Rays’ frustrations got the best of them when B.J Upton and Evan Longoria went toe-to-toe in a heated altercation. Upton pointed his finger and got up in Longoria’s grill after the Longoria questioned the center fielder’s effort in the fifth inning, when Gerardo Parra hit a two-run home-run that helped give the D’backs a 2-1 win over the slumping Rays.
“It’s a byproduct of a frustrated team,” Longoria said. “We’re trying to win games and guys are going to have differences of opinion. I just wanted to know what was going through his head. The bottom line, we’ve talked about it and it goes no further than today.”
Longoria questioned Upton’s positioning when he went after Rusty Ryal’s drive that ended up being a triple, setting up Parra’s homer.
Even though we all know that these minor scuffles between players are supposed to stay within the walls of the clubhouse, it’s understandable why Rays players seem so upset. Since May 23, the Rays are just 12-19 and have dropped 11 of their last 16. Since the middle of May the Rays have dropped from first to third place in the AL East and with the Red Sox and Yankees heating up, they are going to have to turn things around quickly to keep pace in the division.
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