TORONTO—Evan Longoria donned his shiny new sleeveless Gators shirt and went out to take some swings this morning.

The swings went very well. He used a fungo bat first, then a regulation bat, and said it was easily the best he has felt since hurting himself in Seattle last month. He’ll hit a ball for the first time tomorrow, off a tee and perhaps some soft-toss, with an eye on taking regular batting practice for the first time Monday in Boston. If that goes well, it seems there’s a chance he could be ready to roll by the end of the Red Sox series or the opener in New York.

As for his apparel, it seems the Southern California native has adopted the Gators as his college football team. Rather than make the sensible front-running choice and go with USC, Longoria apparently was told by hardcore Gators fan and Rays equipment manager Chris Westmoreland that he needed to choose between UF, FSU and Miami. There was no pressure applied, Westy insisted, and Longoria went with the Gators. Not surprisingly, Westy immediately procured a Gators shirt for his new prodigy.

As a Georgia alum, I find the whole thing rather distasteful, but to each his own.

Turning to today’s game, Jason Bartlett has the day off. Joe Maddon said Aki Iwamura likely will get tomorrow off as he tries to get guys a bit of rest heading into Boston and New York.

The lineups:

Rays
Iwamura 2B
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Floyd DH
Aybar 3B
Hinske LF
Navarro C
Gross RF
Zobrist SS
Shields P

Jays
Inglett 2B
Scutaro SS
Rios CF
Wells DH
Lind LF
Overbay 1B
Rolen 3B
Zaun C
Snider RF
Marcum P