"The Rays had plenty of reasons not to want to play a day-night doubleheader today and they insisted keeping Derek Jeter from getting to 3,000 hits wasn't one of them.

"I think the guys worry about the way we feel in here," Evan Longoria said after the Rays opted to not play two games today and instead will play the Yankees on a mutual off-day on Sept. 22. "We feel for his situation, going for 3,000 hits, but it's not like he's never going to get another hit again. The consideration was 'what's best for our club?' ... We're kind of banged up and stretched out right now."

Longoria, the Rays' union representative, said the team's vote was unanimous among the players who voted. And it's clear the Rays have other things on their minds than Jeter's attempt at history in The Bronx — namely, the ability to skip a rookie pitcher in the rotation and close out the first half with David Price and James Shields on the mound.

"They want him to break the record here, and I get it," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "It sounds like a good argument. Right now, if I had my druthers, I'd probably choose later. At this point in the first half, guys are a little run-down."

And Longoria said he didn't consider it a victory for the Rays.

"I don't think there's really a win," he said. "Obviously, they're rooting for Derek to get 3,000 hits here in this series, and we'd like to see him get it, too. He's got two more games to do it."

But Longoria understands it might not be easy."