RHP Dave Eiland would have liked to have gotten here sooner, but the Pasco County product was pleased nonetheless to join the Rays on Monday. Eiland and lefty reliever Brad Pennington were called up to bolster the depleted pitching staff. Eiland, 32, just completed an impressive season at Triple-A Durham, posting a 13-5 record and 2.99 ERA and proving he has recovered from injuries that slowed him the past couple of seasons. He had hoped the strong performance would have gotten him back to the big leagues earlier, but he plans to make the best of whatever opportunity he gets. He warmed up Monday and is a candidate to start Friday in New York. "I wish I had more than a week," Eiland said, "but I'm going to try and give them innings and help them, and try to help myself, too." Eiland, who starred at Zephyrhills High and played at South Florida, has pitched in 53 games for the Yankees and Padres but has been sidetracked in recent years by injuries. He last pitched in the majors Aug. 21, 1995, though he was on the Yankees' active roster the final two weeks of the 1996 season. If nothing else, Eiland said, his strong showing at Durham re-established him as a major-league pitcher. "I don't know what other people think. That was the most innings (171) I've pitched in seven or eight years, so I'm healthy, and that was always a question for me," he said. "I have to move on and keep pitching. Hopefully I'll get a chance, and hopefully it'll be here." Pennington, another former major-leaguer, was 4-4 with a 4.86 ERA primarily in relief. The two were passed over in the initial round of call-ups, but the Rays needed fresh arms after losing Rolando Arrojo to injury early in Sunday's 12-inning game and facing 18 innings Monday. "Before we ran into the injury and the extra innings and all that, we had a lot of pitchers, and like I've said, if you're not going to use guys, then why bring them up unless there are other reasons," manager Larry Rothschild said. "The need became the fact." Eiland and Pennington were added to the 40-man roster. To make room, Arrojo was placed on the 60-day disabled list and RHP Jason Johnson shifted from the 15-day to the 60-day DL. Q-BALL: With three hits, Quinton McCracken tied the single-season expansion record of 175 by Colorado's Charlie Hayes in 1993. "It's definitely a privilege to tie the record, and I'm just thankful to the Devil Rays for giving me the chance to play," McCracken said. ARROJO UPDATE: A strained right bicep ended Arrojo's season but should have no lasting effect. "I don't think it's very serious," Rothschild said. "Usually in that area of the muscle it's not, and he's had it before, so I would doubt that it's serious at all. It's nothing a little rest won't completely take care of." MEN IN BLUE: The Sox have been complaining about umpiring, and Rothschild seemed, shall we say, a bit interested to note that they got a number of close ball/strike calls in Game 1, specifically when Tom Gordon struck out Aaron Ledesma with two on in the eighth. COMMUNICATION IS KEY: A mixup on signs cost the Rays a chance to take the lead in the fifth inning of Game 1. Wade Boggs was on third and McGriff on first with the score 2-2. With an 0-2 count on Ledesma, McGriff broke for second. He got in a brief rundown, then Boggs took off for home and, after his own brief rundown, was tagged out. "It was kind of a busted play; it wasn't what we were trying to do," Rothschild said. "There were two strikes on Aaron, and a lot of times that's a good time to try something, but you have to have the right baserunners. It was a mistake on the signs. Basically it was my fault." WRAP-UP: The organization and players donated more than $400,000 to charity during the final homestand. Sunday's finale in New York has been added to SportsChannel's TV schedule. Coach Orlando Gomez and RHP Roberto Hernandez have homes and relatives in Puerto Rico and were monitoring the status of Hurricane Georges. _ MARC TOPKIN