Bay Area Baseball

Tampa Bay will  continue their run at the AL East Title without  Evan Longoria.  Photo: AP

One day after losing outfielder Carl Crawford to the disabled list, the Tampa Bay Rays lost rookie of the year candidate Evan Longoria. Longoria was placed on the 15 day disabled list with a fractured wrist, a serious injury for a team who has been hot lately. Weathering the injury to Crawford was going to be a challenge in itself, the Rays will now need Willy Aybar to step in and provide solid defense and clutch hitting.

These next two weeks could well decide the playoff fates of all three American League East contenders. The Red Sox, who are calling up minor league knuckleballer Charlie Zink to replace Tim Wakefield, need to take advantage of the Rays injuries to make a run at the division. The Yankees, who were just swept by the Angels, need to regroup and see that this is also their chance to make a push at the wild card.

Other Notes:

Arizona acquired the major’s HR leader in Adam Dunn, he should bring a patient eye and plenty of home runs and strikeouts to an anemic offense that just lost Orlando Hudson.

Texas has lost closer CJ Wilson for the rest of the season, adding another roadblock to a team trying to make a run at the wild card.

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