Longoria back at 3B with games-played streak intact

ST. PETERSBURG -- After a one-game stint in the designated-hitter role, Evan Longoria returned to his customary third-base spot Saturday night for the second game of the Rays' weekend series with the Yankees.
 
Longoria, who was drilled in the left hip by a Marco Estrada fastball on Thursday in Toronto, extended his Major League-leading games-played streak to 254.
 
"I probably didn't have a ton of confidence that he was going to to play [at all on Friday], and then to have him back [at third base] today is huge," Rays manager Kevin Cash said Saturday.
 
When asked whether it was a return to full strength or a high pain threshold that enabled Longoria to man the hot corner, Cash didn't hesitate.
 
"It's more of gutting it out," he said. "If you look at where he got hit, it's like a severe charley horse on the bone. It's painful."
 
Longoria, who entered Saturday hitting .235 across 11 games, went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Friday night's 5-4 loss to the Yankees.