B.J. Upton returned from a round of early batting practice to meet with the media this afternoon. He called what happened on the bases last night a “mental lapse” and said he doesn’t want his actions to be a distraction to the team as it makes a run for the playoffs.

“There’s no excuse for it,” he said. “It can’t happen, especially in the middle of a pennant race. Every run matters, every out matters. I want to apologize for it. It’s just something that can’t happen.”

Upton said he hadn’t seen Cliff Floyd’s comments made following last night’s game, but he knows he has to get it together so as not to derail everything positive that’s going on.

“It wasn’t something that I think I was ready to deal with last night,” he said. “But I’ve got to do what I can do to push it behind me and move on. The last thing I want to become is a distraction to this team. We’ve got something way too good going on right now to have to deal with this. We just want to win ballgames and right now I think I’m becoming a distraction. I just can’t let it happen, for my sake and for the team’s sake so we can move on and get where we need to be.”

As for getting booed by the home crowd at Tropicana Field, Upton said that wasn’t as big a deal as what he knew he would face in the clubhouse.

“I’ve been booed before. It probably won’t be the last [time],” he said. “I don’t think it was that big of a deal. The biggest thing for me is dealing with the guys in this room – the guys that care and the guys that matter. I’m just going to move on.”

Upton is in the starting lineup tonight, as Joe Maddon had said he would be. In fact, it’s the same crew as yesterday:

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