SEATTLE -- Rays third baseman Evan Longoria was removed from Friday's 12-4 loss to the Mariners on Friday in the bottom of the seventh inning with neck stiffness, the team announced.
Daniel Robertson replaced him defensively.
"This crept up in Spring Training, it's kind of a day-to-day thing," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I'm hopeful he'll be out there [Saturday], but we'll just wait and see tomorrow."
Cash suspects there wasn't a specific moment in the game in which the injury flared up.
"I think he just kind of got tight over the day," he said.
Longoria lined out to second baseman Robinson Cano in his last at-bat in top of the seventh. He was 1-for-4 with a single.
Longoria is hitting .242 this season with eight home runs and 29 RBIs.