With the Rays playing the Rockies in Colorado, Evan Longoria finds himself at least a bit closer to his family out on the west coast. Some of his family made the trek to Colorado to see him play, something they may not have a lot of chances to do. Here, Evan’s uncle talks about getting to see his nephew playing for the Rays. In front of his family, Longoria went 1-4 with an RBI and a walk in the 7-4 extra inning victory.

Another fun fact about last night – the Rays were the only American League East team not to get shut out in their game. Considering some of the struggles the Rays have had this year on offense, perhaps this come from behind victory and the knowledge that they infinitely outscored the rest of the division will help jumpstart the team.

Finally, this tweet from Mark Topkin may say everything that needs to be said about how much last night’s victory meant to the team:

#Rays Longoria: “We needed that definitely. I thought there were a few big growing moments for us as a group and for individual guys.”

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 4, 2013

1. Desmond Jennings, CF
2. Matt Joyce, LF
3. Ben Zobrist, RF
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. James Loney, 1B
6. Yunel Escobar, SS
7. Luke Scott, DH
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Ryan Roberts, 2B

Also returning to the lineup are Escobar and Molina. Escobar missed the Rays’ last four games with a hamstring issue, and it was unfortunate timing because he was beginning to break out of his early-season slump, going 8 for his last 29 (.286) with 1 double, 2 homer, and 5 RBI, striking out just once. If there is anything positive from this, it’s that Escobar gets a reset after hitting just .164 in his first 21 games, and hopefully leg two of his season can be better than the first part. Molina missed Sunday’s game after getting hit by a pitch just above his knee on Saturday. Molina could not have picked a better time to get nicked up considering Jose Lobaton was probably going to start the next day anyway before the off-day on Monday, and nice to see him back to the lineup. The Rays offense certainly didn’t miss him, but his defensive contributions are a big part of the Rays’ pitching success.

With Scott coming back, the Rays did have to make a roster casualty, and that was Shelley Duncan, who was designated for assignment. Duncan hit just .182 in 64 plate appearances, but his strikeout to walk ratio was a great 14-9 and it’s a pity that we didn’t get to see whether that patience would turn into some power. Duncan just ran out of time with Scott returning, and the Rays no longer had room for him on the roster. Duncan would have to pass through waivers and then accept an optional assignment to Triple-A to remain in the organization, so he may have played his last game in a Rays uniform.

The Mariners designated Wells for assignment on March 31st and he was eventually claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays on April 10th. Just five days after acquiring him, though, the Jays placed Wells back on waivers just five days after acquiring him before he even got into a game with them. The Jays wound up trading Wells to the Oakland Athletics for cash considerations and Wells finally made his season debut on April 23rd for the A’s, going 0 for 1 after entering as a pinch-hitter. But after making just 5 plate appearances with Oakland, going 0 for 5, Wells was designated for assignment yesterday to make room for Yoennis Cespedes on the Athletics’ 25-man roster, and now he’s stuck in waiver limbo once again. Who will claim him next? Could the Rays be that team?

When Luke Scott went on the disabled list to begin the year, the Rays added the right-hand hitting Shelley Duncan to the roster in an attempt to cancel out the loss of Scott’s ability at the plate at least slightly by making up for a glut of lefty bats on the roster with a righty power bat. But whatever advantage Duncan gave the Rays in theory has not worked out as he has managed just a .182/.297/.309 (72 OPS+) with 1 double, 2 homers, and 6 RBI in 64 plate appearances. There is some reason for optimism. Duncan’s strikeout to walk ratio is 14-9 (1.56 to 1), much better than his 2.51 to 1 career mark. Duncan appears to be seeing the ball well and you have to hope that that will translate into more hits. Also, Duncan actually has a great .267/.333/.500 line in 33 PA’s versus righties compared to just .080/.258/.080 in 31 against lefties, which is downright bizarre considering he has the platoon advantage versus lefties, and he also has an 8-6 strikeout to walk ratio versus lefties, whihc once again should mean that he should be making better quality contact beginning soon. But all this business of how Duncan could do with more time, isn’t it irrelevant? Luke Scott is set to come back from his calf injury on Tuesday and the Rays will have to make a move to add him to their roster.

The Rays’ options are basically between designating Dunn for assignment and sending right-hander Brandon Gomes back to Triple-A. Gomes has a 3.72 ERA in 10 appearances, striking out 12 which walking just 1 although he has allowed 2 home runs. Despite the fact that the Rays would be at risk of losing Duncan to waivers should they designate him, it doesn’t make any sense for the Rays to keep him on the roster because the presence of Scott will get rid of most of his playing time. And if they do that, it would put their 40-man roster at only 39, giving them the opportunity to add one more player. Could they claim a player like Wells off waivers? Absolutely not because Wells is out of options and the Rays wouldn’t be able to send him down to Triple-A without exposing him to waivers himself. Wells is the type of player the Rays might have been interested in previously, but the circumstances aren’t right this time and Wells’ next destination will be elsewhere.

Casper Wells has to be hoping for the perfect opportunity: a team needed a right-hand hitting outfielder on their major league roster and not just for a short time. He’s a good baseball player and there’s a good chance that he will be traded or claimed once again, but he has to hope that this time he will finally get a chance. Using the Rays as an example shows just how unlikely that ideal opportunity is to arise.