Upton hitting in No. 2 hole works for now

ST. PETERSBURG -- CF B.J. Upton found himself batting second Friday night against the Red Sox for the fourth straight game, because manager Joe Maddon, for the moment, likes how that looks.

"When B.J. was hitting in the 2 hole when Johnny (Damon) was out he looked very comfortable, and I liked his at-bats," Maddon said. "He was accepting his walks. He was seeing his pitches, and I like the potential of him and Desmond (Jennings) getting on base ahead of those other guys. It's kind of intriguing."

Upton was 3-for-9 in the No. 2 hole during the three games against the Rangers, with a home run, three walks and three strikeouts.

Damon, who batted second in 69 games this season, was dropped to fifth for the second time as a Ray.

"Here's a guy who has a tendency to do well in big moments, so let's put him in a more fruitful potential moment where he has a chance to drive in some runs," Maddon said.

In 90 career plate appearances in the fifth spot, Damon was batting .198 with seven RBIs. He is, however, a career .286 hitter with a .366 on-base percentage and a .457 slugging percentage in high-leverage situations, according to baseball-reference.com.

Maddon likes the idea of having Damon hitting behind Ben Zobrist, serving as protection for Zobrist, who serves as protection for No. 3 hitter Evan Longoria.

It's a 1 through 5 that Maddon likes … for now.

"I like B.J. there, and I like the idea of John to hit behind Zo and possibly fulfill a different role, because I know (Damon) gets into that stuff and he's been there before and he's always been good in big games," Maddon said.