Rays manager Joe Maddon claimed that B.J. Upton wasn't being benched Tuesday night, but when Maddon penned Wednesday night's lineup, Upton's name was nowhere to be found again.
Questions swirled heading into the Rays' series opener with the Red Sox Tuesday night about whether or not Upton would miss any time after he jogged after a ball in the gap in a game Sunday against the Diamondbacks.
Rays third baseman Evan Longoria called Upton out in the dugout after the play and the two were seen having a heated argument in the dugout.
"I just chose not to play him [Tuesday]," Maddon told Heidi Watney on Red Sox GameDay Live before Tuesday's game. "I like the lineup we're throwing out there against [Tuesday's Red Sox starter] John [Lackey]."
Apparently, he felt the same way while filling out Wednesday's lineup card.
Upton did pinch hit in Tuesday's game at Fenway Park and hit a triple, though he was not hustling hard into second base. Upton has only one hit in 13 career at-bats against Wednesday's Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka.
