"All-Star 3B Evan Longoria (strained left oblique) hit off a tee for the first time Thursday and again sounded optimistic about an early May return.

"It's a huge improvement from where I was a week ago," he said. "And it felt good. There was no residual pain or soreness or anything. I think tomorrow I'll hit off the tee again and, hopefully, I can push them to let me hit some (tosses) or something."

A strained oblique can be a stubborn injury, but Longoria has looked smooth fielding grounders and throwing. If he continues to swing without pain, he should quickly progress to batting practice and a probably short minor-league rehab assignment.

He'll join the Rays for at least the first part of their seven-day road trip to Toronto and Minnesota today.

"All the needles are pointing in the right direction," manager Joe Maddon said. "He's coming with us. We'll do some thing with him up there, and hopefully we'll figure out the right time to get him out and put him on his program."

Longoria only made six plate appearances before being injured, and he did not get a hit.

Damon returns

DH Johnny Damon, who was hit on the left ring finger while bunting Sunday, returned to the lineup after missing three games.

He extended his team-high hitting streak to 10 games in the third inning with a two-out single, which also gave him sole possession of 79th place on the MLB career list with 2,585 hits."