Shutdown coming?

Pounding the Yankees in the Bronx is always most fun when it’s delivered by the one Rays shining light the Yankees won’t be able to purchase in is prime.

Of course, that’s Evan Longoria, the one guy going nowhere from a deep sea of Rays getting moved when they should have gotten paid.

Little soothes Joe more than a Longo hit show in New York, and the one this weekend needs to be admired. Longo was 7-for-11 in the three-game series with a homer and six RBIs, half of which came in the lone Rays win, a 12-3 clobbering of the Yankees yesterday.

That jacked up his RBI total to 70, his average to .289, and he sits with 26 homers with six weeks to play.

Joe doesn’t want to see Rays fans suffer more, but Joe wouldn’t mind seeing the Longo effectively shut down once September comes and/or he hits his 30th homer. There’s no reason to put needless mileage on him. Hopefully, saving him now can help the Rays down the stretch in 2017.