Floyd, Longoria homer to help Rays beat Cubs
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Evan Longoria's home run snapped a sixth-inning tie. Then the rookie's stellar defense sealed another Tampa Bay victory and spoiled Lou Pinella's return to Tropicana Field.
Longoria fielded Reed Johnson's ninth-inning bunt with his bare hand and threw to first on one hop Tuesday night, preventing the tying run from scoring from third base in the Rays' 3-2 victory over the Cubs.
"He put it down in a good spot, and it was just do or die," Longoria said, adding that first baseman Willy Aybar deserved just as much credit for handling the hurried throw cleanly to end the game.
"Probably the best bunt play I have ever seen, capped off with the pick by Aybar," closer Troy Percival said. "That ball right there, typically, is going to be bobbled just enough for the guy to be safe."
Cliff Floyd also hit a solo homer for the Rays, connecting off Ryan Dempster in the second inning. Longoria led off the sixth with his 11th of the season, snapping a 1-1 tie against Neal Cotts (0-1), who had a two-base throwing error in the seventh to set up Tampa Bay's other run.
Grant Balfour (1-0) pitched 1½ innings in relief of Scott Kazmir to get the win. The starter held the Cubs to 1 run and 3 hits in 4¿ innings, and the Rays' bullpen limited the team with baseball's best record to 3 hits the rest of the way.
"They're a good team. I've seen that all year," Dempster said. "They've got a real good pitching staff. They've got a good bullpen. They've got a lot of good young players."
Percival, whose veteran leadership is one of the reasons Tampa Bay is off to its best start in franchise history, worked an eventful ninth for his 16th save in 18 opportunities.
After Geovany Soto flied out on the warning track in left, The closer gave up a single to Mark DeRosa and a double to pinch hitter Kosuke Fukudome. DeRosa scored on a passed ball, and the Rays nearly blew the lead when Percival's low pitch to pinch hitter Jim Edmonds skipped past catcher Dioner Navarro with two outs.
But the ball caromed off the backstop perfectly, forcing Fukodome to remain at third. When Edmonds walked, Johnson placed a bunt down the third-base line that caught Percival and Longoria by surprise.
"He probably thought that he could get the third baseman napping a little bit," said Pinella, the former Rays manager now in his second season with the Cubs. "As it was, the kid came in barehanded, and the first baseman made a real nice catch."
The victory before 31,607 -- a number bolstered by thousands of Cubs fans relishing their team's first trip to Tampa Bay -- was the Rays' 41st victory of the season, 1 shy of their most ever before the all-star break.