Duncan: I Played Like Crap

At least that's what Shelley Duncan said of his own play during Saturday's game:

Acting manager Rob Thomson liked how the young first baseman "battled," but Shelley Duncan boiled down his first start of the season to another word.

"Poop," Duncan said as he fiddled with the tab of a soda can in front of his clubhouse stall after yesterday's 6-3 loss to the Rays.

Duncan ripped a second-inning single to left in his first at-bat, but his afternoon deteriorated quickly. He finished 1-for-4, grounded out with two runners on base to end the eighth and committed a throwing error that led to two unearned runs.

"I feel like I have some work to do," Duncan said. "I felt like poop a little bit. Hopefully, I can put the work in the cage and next time around I can be sharp."

As for his choice of words, Duncan said, "It just means you feel you can do a lot better, you feel you can feel a lot better. You don't feel like your swing at everything was 100 percent. That was me [yesterday]. Poop."

Duncan had better find a poop scooper at first if he wants to challenge Jason Giambi for a recurring role in the infield.