Johnson is smooth at short

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

DUNEDIN – Elliot Johnson debuted at shortstop Tuesday against the Blue Jays and looked smooth, handling two chances and being the middle man on a double play.

“I like the double play,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “He really simplified his footwork in all the best ways. And in the ground ball to shortstop you saw he came and got the ball a little bit. He got his feet set and threw the ball without patting (his glove), there was no extra time with the ball in his glove, and it was very accurate.”

A second baseman by trade, Johnson is trying to learn shortstop, third base and center field so he can assume the role of super utility fielder currently held by Ben Zobrist.

Zobrist was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a fracture left thumb. The move is retroactive to March 21, meaning Zobrist is eligible to come off the disabled list April 5. Johnson’s serviced will be needed for four regular season games providing Zobrist is ready to return to action that day.

Johnson helped turn the double play in the first inning when he moved across second base, taking the feed from second baseman Andy Cannizaro and firing to Carlos Pena at first base to complete the play.

He also handled two other chances with ease.

“Every place we’ve put him he looks good, third base, shortstop, center field,” Maddon said.

Johnson had a hit in four at-bats against the Jays and is hitting .447. He stole his sxith base Tuesday and scored his 15 run.

Hammelday?
Jason Hammel, in his last spring start before the regular season, had his best outing of the month in the Rays 10-0 win, holding the Jays to three hits in four scoreless innings. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.

Hammel was matched against Roy Halladay, and out-pitched the former Cy Young Award winner.

“They told me (Hammel) was sharper (against) Atlanta (March 8), but I really liked how he threw today, the mixture of his breaking ball with the fastball and he brought the change-up into the mix,” Maddon said.

Hammel will likely pitch in a minor league game Sunday before the team flies to Baltimore for Monday’s season opener. Maddon hasn’t announced when Hammel will make his first start. It will be at Yankee Stadium on either April 4 or 5.

Rays batter Halladay
Halladay had the fifth inning from hell Tuesday. The Jays committed five errors behind him and the Jays Opening Day starter allowed 10 runs (four earned) on seven hits.

John Tolisano, an 18-year-old minor leaguer called up to play second base, made three errors.

Jonny Gomes had a homer and a single in the inning as the Rays sent 14 batters to the plate and scored all their runs in the 10-0 victory.

Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton and Eric Hinske doubled in the inning.

Halladay threw 26 pitches before being removed without recording an out.

The annual shutout
Hammel and relievers Trever Miller, Gary Glover, Dan Wheeler, Al Reyes and Troy Percival each threw a scoreless inning as the Rays posted their first spring training shutout since a 1-0 victory against the Jays on March 27, 2007 in Dunedin.

Percival worked the ninth inning for the first time this season, and bounced back nicely from his meltdown at Sarasota last Sunday when he allowed seven runs against the Reds.

Up next
James Shields will make his final start of the spring Wednesday against the Twins in Fort Myers.

The right-hander, who will make his first Opening Day start on March 31 in Baltimore, is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in four starts this spring.

He will be opposed by Livan Hernandez.

This & That
Jonny Gomes hit his fourth home run of the spring, a bomb over the left field fence that started the 10-run fifth … Eric Hinske is making a strong push to start the season as the fifth outfielder. He’s batting .370 … Cliff Floyd singled in three at-bats but his averaged dropped to .205 … Gary Glover and Al Reyes have yet to allow a run this spring … Tickets still remain for Friday’s game against the Reds at Al Lang. It will be the last spring training game ever played at the historic ballpark.