CC likes his swing

By ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com
PORT CHARLOTTE — Carl Crawford tripled in his first two at-bats Sunday during the Rays 6-3 loss to the visiting Blue Jays. The left fielder, who struggled last season because of hamstring troubles, said this is the best he’s ever felt this early in the spring.

“I can’t remember coming into spring and hitting the ball like this,” Crawford said. “This year I feel like I’m a little ahead of the curve, so I hope I continue to hit.”

Crawford, who singled to left in his first at-bat of the spring, has three hits in his first six at-bats.

He especially liked hitting those two triples, one to right field and one to center field.

“It just feels good to run around the bases in a game, because that’s when you’re running them the hardest,” he said. “You get a chance to see how you feel after that, and I felt good, so I was glad I was able to do that in the game.”

Pena update
Carlos Pena expects to start playing in exhibition games on Saturday.
Right now, he’s pushing himself through exercises aimed at strengthening his lower abdominal muscles, which suffered two tears last season and were surgically repaired in early January.

“I want to be out there playing, of course,” Pena said. “I see the guys playing, and I want to be with them, but I’ll be out there soon enough.”

The first baseman, who earned his first gold glove award last season, has spent more time in the weight room this spring than he has during any other spring. He called his workout program “intense.”

“I’ve felt good all this time,” Pena said. “But, obviously, there’s a process (head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield) wants me to go through. And there’s a series of exercises that are pretty intense, actually. I’m kind of excited about that, because, if anything, it helps me get into better shape. I’ve been very diligent doing all of my exercises. They’re kind of rigorous. But I’m happy to do them.”

Hammel time
Jason Hammel has not allowed a run in his six innings this spring. He threw four scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on Sunday.

The former starter who was moved to the bullpen last May to make room in the rotation for Scott Kazmir, said he isn’t doing anything different this spring other than pitching with more confidence.

“Honestly no. Maybe a little more boost of confidence, but I was really at my height last year. We had a great season. I really have no more confidence after that,” Hammel said. “I’m just excited to be here. I know it’s a cliché, but I’m happy. I’m going to get these innings and I’m going to do what I can with them.”

Rays lose to Jays
The Jays scored twice in each of their final two at-bats to rally for a 6-3 victory on a windy day at Charlotte Sports Park.

Winston Abreu allowed two runs, one earned, in the eight as the Jays went ahead 4-3 on a sacrifice fly by J.P. Arencibia.

Chad Orvella pitched the ninth and allowed two more runs.

The Jays scored twice in the seventh off Carlos Hernandez. Hernandez pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on two hits. He walked a batter and threw a wild pitch.

The Rays led 3-0 after five innings.

The scored twice in the third inning and Jason Bartlett doubled and scored on Crawford’s first triple. Crawford scored on a sacrifice fly by Pat Burrell.

They added another run in the fifth when Crawford led off with a triple and scored on Evan Longoria’s second double of the game.