"The double by Delmon Young in the eighth inning, the one that teased B.J. Upton into thinking he could catch it if he just reached a little farther, was the hit that changed Monday's game as the Tigers came away from Tropicana Field with a 5-2 victory.

It might also be the hit that impacts the remainder of the Rays season, since Upton injured his right shoulder trying to make the catch and should miss tonight's game with the Tigers and maybe more with what was termed a right shoulder strain.

Not that Upton has been setting the pace for the Rays offense. Without him Desmond Jennings will play center field and Sam Fuld will see more time in left field.

But the Rays will lose a power bat and some speed.

"I don't think it's anything too serious," said Upton, who agreed with the team's assessment that he is "day-to-day."

As for now, the Monday's loss snapped the Rays five-game winning streak and seven-game winning streak at the Trop. Boston lost to the Rangers in Arlington, so the Rays remain 7 ½ back in the Wild Card standings with 36 games to play.

Upton's injury came as the pitcher's duel between Jeff Niemann and Justin Verlander began to unravel.

Until then Niemann matched Verlander, the major league-leader in wins and the front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award nearly pitch-for-pitch.

Verlander, who won his 19th game Monday, allowed a first inning home run to Matt Joyce, who was moved up to leadoff by Rays manager Joe Maddon in hopes the struggling right fielder would see better pitches.

He did, and he sent Verlander's fourth pitch of the night 403 feet into the right field seats.

Niemann, looking to extend his winning streak to a club-record eight games, allowed three hits in the second inning, including a two-run homer by Alex Avila.

That was it as far as scoring, as Verlander allowed two more hits, and Niemann got on a roll in the third inning, when he started a stretch of retiring 10 straight batters.

"I expected coming in that runs would be at a premium," Niemann said.

It was still a 2-1 game when Brennan Boesch singled with one-out in the eighth. Young, the former Devil Rays who doubled off Niemann in the third inning, sent a drive toward the right-center field gap.

Upton gave chase but couldn't catch up the ball.

"I was inches away from that ball," Upton said. "It kept going away from me. I couldn't get there."

Upton slammed into the wall and fell to the turf while Rays head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield and Maddon ran from the dugout."