Look! A leadoff hit!

B.J. Upton is not in the starting lineup during this Sunday afternoon series finale between the Rays and the Twins. Rays manager Joe Maddon wanted to give Upton the day off which, when coupled with Monday's off day, will mean a two-day rest for Upton.

Ben Zobrist batted leadoff and singled in his first at-bat, proving that leadoff hitters are allowed to lead off with hits.

One at-bat doesn't mean a whole lot, except after one at-bat Zobrist's average as a leadoff hitter is 800 points higher than Upton, who raised his season average to .200 with a hit in four at-bats Saturday.

Maddon said Upton will bat leadoff Tuesday when the Rays and Royals open a three-game set.

Price looks right

Grant Balfour received the biggest ovation of his life Saturday. Nearly 30,000 inside the Trop stood and cheered as the Rays reliever entered the game.

Oh, wait. They were cheering for David Price, who was headed to the dugout.

My bad.

Price's good.

The lefty struck out 11 and allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings Saturday against the Twins.

It was a heck of an improvement over his first start last Monday when he walked five batters and struck out six in 3 1/3 innings at Cleveland.

Rays manager wanted to see Price pitch deeper into the game and have better command of his fastball. Check and check.

Price left with the Rays up 4-1.

The rookie, so big in last year's postseason, isn't the savior of this team. But a few more outings like the one he turned in Saturday will go a long way toward getting the Rays above .500 and challenging for another trip to the postseason.

Dark days at the Trop

Carlos Pena was on his way to first base after drawing a first-inning walk off Oakland starter Dallas Braden on Thursday afternoon when the stadium lights at Tropicana Field went off.

Braden jumped off the mound as the building grew dark.

You can understand Braden being a tad spooked, what with the thunderstorm pounding the Trop from the outside.

The scoreboard, video board, sound system and lights through the stadium continued to work. Just the lights suspended from the catwalks lost juice.

The A's left the field as everyone waited for the lights to come back on. It would take 15 minutes or so before they came on fully juiced.

This is a good time to trot a favorite story among those who have covered this team for many years.

It happened when Hal McRay was manager. The lights went out during a mid-season game in 2002. After the game, Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune asked McRae what he thought when the lights went out.

"Carter," McRae, began, "the lights went out around her a long time ago."

A Devil Rays classic.

Sonny at the bat

Who needs Pat Burrell when you have Andy Sonnanstine?

The Rays pitcher, forced to bat because of an error on the Rays lineup card, doubled home a run against the Indians in the Rays five-run fourth inning Sunday.

Sonnanstine lined the bal over the head of Indians left fielder Ryan Garko, who was playing a tad shallow.

It was the first extra-base hit of Sonnanstine's career.

Sonnanstine, who takes a great deal of pride in his batting ability, bunted into a force play during his first at-bat and looked at a called strike in his second.

The double raised Sonny's career average to .417.

Lineup card error means no DH

The No. 3 hitter in the Rays lineup received a nice ovation when he came to bat in the first inning Sunday. More than a few Rays fans even stood.

A normal response when it is Evan Longoria, but this time it wasn't the 2008 American League Rookie of the Year, but pitcher Andy Sonnanstine.

Yes, Andy Sonnanstine.

Sonnanstine was forced to hit because of an error on the Rays lineup card that listed Longoria and Ben Zobrist as third basemen. Longo was supposed to be the DH.

The mistake was brought to the attention of the umpires in the middle of the first inning. After huddling amonst themselves then with Cleveland manager Eric Wedge, the umpires called the Indians off the field.

They met with Rays manager Joe Maddon for a few minutes.

Their decision was Longo was out of the game, but since he didn't bat or play the field, he was eligible to come off the bench.

After a 13-minute delay, play resumed with Sonnanstine the No. 3 batter in the lineup.

It was the first time a starting pitcher batted at Tropicana Field.

Ken Brett was the last starting pitcher to hit in an American League game. He did that for the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1976.

Rays pitcher Matt Garza was the last pitcher to hit in an American League game when he batted for the Twins in 2007.

Rays return home with some momentum

Well, you knew Troy Percival was in for a rough outing, giving his lack of work this season and, well, he's Troy Percival. Good thing the Rays handed him a six-run lead to protect Wednesday.

Hey, look at it this way: At least Percy gave those Orioles fans who stayed around for the bottom of the ninth something to cheer about.

The Rays scored four times in the ninth then held on for an 8-6 win.

The Rays return home Thursday to face the Indians for the start of an eight-game homestand that features four with the Indians and four with the Athletics. Not exactly a daunting task, since both are last-place teams.

Wednesday's win was the swing victory in what became a 5-4 road trip that could have been - should have been - better.

They held the lead in every game.

The bullpen blew leads in both games at New York and again during Sunday night's loss at Boston. The Rays were able to rally both nights against the Yankees. They had no answer for the Red Sox, despite having the tying and go-ahead run on second and third and one-out. Jonathon Papelbon pitched himself into and out of the jam, striking out Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford to close the door.

Percival aside, the bullpen did a very good job against the Orioles. They picked up six shutout innings in Tuesday's loss and picked up another 3 2/3 shutout innings Wednesday.

James Shields fell apart in the Red Sox comeback last Friday.

Andy Sonnanstine gave further cause for concern Tuesday in Baltimore when he gave away a 5-1 lead in what appeared to be a matter of seconds. He's now 1-4 with a 7.27 ERA.

Designated hitter Pat Burrell left the road trip before Wednesday's game and returned to St. Pete so he could have his sore neck examined.

Despite that, the Rays showed some positive signs.

Upton's bat is showing life. Dioner Navarro has contributed offensively.

Jason Bartlett continues to hit, an indication, perhaps, his hot start may actually be a hot season. He now has five home runs this season.

Evan Longoria continues his record-setting RBI pace.

Crawford bruised his right shoulder making a diving catch Wednesday, and that will be a cause of concern.

So is Burrell's neck.

The Rays are 16-19. They have a chance to push themselves above .500 during this homestand.

Sternberg gets high marks from SI.com

According to SI.com, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg is one of the top owners in major league baseball, ranking fifth in a story on the web site.

The rankings were based on several factors:

- Team's success or failure on the field.
- Willingness to spend money to improve the team.
- Stability and capabilities of the front office and management.
- Amenities at the team's venue.
- Club's culture and interactivity with fans.

Since taking over the franchise after the 2003 season, Sternberg has certainly upgraded the organization in each of those areas.

Here are the top-five baseball owners according to SI.com:
1. Henry/Werner/Lucchino, Boston Red Sox

2. Arturo Moreno, Los Angeles Angels

3. William DeWitt, St. Louis Cardinals

4. Steinbrenner Family, New York Yankees

5. Stuart Sternberg, Tampa Bay Rays

And here are the bottom five:

1. Peter Angelos, Baltimore Orioles

2. Tom Hicks, Texas Rangers

3. David Glass, Kansas City Royals

4. Jeffrey Loria, Florida Marlins

5. Ted Lerner, Washington Nationals