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Longo Back At Full Power

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - He's back.

Back, back, back.

Evan Longoria actually has been back a few days, since Saturday, when he drove in three runs across two games at Yankee Stadium.

But Thursday at Tropicana Field, Longoria was really, really back. Back, back, back.

He hit three home runs against the Minnesota Twins, who nevertheless rose up to bite the Rays bullpen with a stunning five-run ninth to silence the Trop, and the Rays clubhouse, with an 11-8 win.

"I don't know how many times you see a guy hit three home runs and lose that particular game," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "That might be a first."

Still, there was a ray of hope.

It was Seventh Evan again.

We hadn't seen even one of his shots since Aug. 5, before the fractured wrist, before the disabled list, before 30 games missed. We'd almost forgotten what they looked like.

But it's coming back to us.

"They made some mistakes, and as a good hitter in this league, if they make mistakes, you've got to make them pay," Longoria said. "... They just threw them in and I hit 'em."

As Good As Advertised

In a happier time during this game, before Dan Wheeler blew up in the ninth, before the Rays' lead fell to 11/2 games over idle Boston, Trop fans demanded a curtain call after Longoria's final homer, which carried down the left-field line in the seventh and just cleared the fence. Longoria bounced from the winning dugout and tipped his helmet.

We'd almost forgotten that so much of this season before the injury was filled with Longo nights, with walk-off this and that, with All-Star starring, with Longo deeds, Longo larger than life.

Longoria was this team's MVP before he went down with that wrist. He was leading the Rays in homers (22) and RBIs (71) and slugging percentage at the time. Carlos Pena has passed him in homers and RBIs, but Longo never stopped leading in slugging. That was the kind of year he was having. Thirty games absent and he's still the AL Rookie of the Year.

The Rays will settle for one last Longo stretch, a week and a half - and beyond.

The Rays have been hitting all kinds of home runs this week. Pena hit that huge homer to tie the Red Sox on Tuesday, and added his 30th on Thursday. But the Rays need Longoria, at full power, if they're going to power through the playoffs.

They need his glove, too, the glove that left people agog all season, that grabbed those slow rollers and threw to end one Twins rally on Thursday.

"As advertised, he's pretty good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That was a heck of a ballgame from him defensively and offensively. He has a nice swing, fluid and through the ball, and the ball keeps going into the seats on us."

It wasn't enough.

"Obviously, I'm happy with my performance tonight, but that was a tough way to go," Longoria said.

October Around The Corner

Phenomenal Rays pitching prospect David Price made his Trop debut Thursday. He relieved starter James Shields in the seventh with two men on. Price surrendered a two-run single to Joe Mauer, but then struck out Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel. Longoria re-padded the lead in the bottom of the inning. It wasn't enough.

There was still hope.

Longo stories and sensation came flooding back Thursday at the Trop. So did the realization that Longoria doesn't turn 23 until early next month.

October is coming.

He'll be waiting.

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