Evan Longoria

The Tampa Bay Rays announced yesterday that they were signing their third baseman, Evan Longoria, to a six-year, $17.5 million contract that could be worth as much as $44 million over nine seasons. Longoria, considered one of the top prospects in baseball, has played just six games. How do you suppose this makes Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis feel? The cheapest organization in baseball during the past 10 years - the Rays - decided they would rather commit to Longoria now, even though he barely has two series under his belt, while the Orioles are paying Markakis, already a budding star with two full seasons behind him, just $65,000 more than the league minimum.

SARASOTA, Fla. - When the Orioles arrived in Boston last September for their final regular season series at Fenway Park, Rays manager Joe Maddon - his own team leaving Boston for the Bronx trailing the Red Sox in the wild card race by two games - asked to leave a bottle of wine in the visiting clubhouse for Orioles manager Buck Showalter attached with a note that said "Go get them. " Baltimore had long since been eliminated from the postseason, and was on its way to completing a 14th straight losing season, but the Orioles would have their say in the postseason race.

The deadline has passed for teams to submit uniform changes to Major League Baseball. From what I'm told, "Baltimore" still won't be appearing on the road jerseys in 2007. Sorry. I know how much that means to a lot of you. A reminder that the Orioles are expected to return to a 12-man pitching staff once Jay Gibbons comes off the disabled list. He's eligible on Sunday. Was there a better name in the draft than Evan Longoria, who went third to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays? I guess they were desperate for infield help.

Third baseman Mark Reynolds made two errors -- both leading to Tampa Bay Rays runs -- and center fielder Adam Jones played Evan Longoria's tailing liner into a two-run, inside-the-park home run. The Rays got absolutely no resistance in stealing four bases in the first two innings, while Orioles left fielder Felix Pie was thrown out foolishly trying to steal second in a three-run game in the eighth. But of all the disturbing images in the Orioles' dreadful 9-6 loss Sunday in front of an announced 22,032 at Camden Yards, none came close to topping Brian Matusz's jog off the mound after just 1 1/3 innings.

How it happened: This one was over early. Orioles starter Brad Bergesen had gotten one out in the top of the first inning when Carl Crawford hit a routine infield pop-up. Orioles third baseman Miguel Tejada and shortstop Cesar Izturis failed to communicate, however, and the ball fell to the dirt. Crawford reached first safely, and Tejada was charged with a fielding error. Bergesen walked Evan Longoria two batters later, and then Carlos Pena slammed a home run to put the Rays ahead 3-0. That would have been more than enough for Tampa Bay, but Bergesen went on to allow five more runs, including three on B.J. Upton's first of two homers in the game, in going just three innings.

It was a good idea Phil Rogers Chicago Tribune Good baseball is always about doing what's called for in the situation. Evan Longoria's bunt attempt in the middle of Dallas Braden's perfect game on Sunday was a good idea at the time, and well within anyone's understanding of baseball etiquette. Longoria was leading off the fifth inning, with Tampa Bay trailing 4-0. While he's a power hitter, the four-run deficit meant the Rays needed a big inning. He was only thinking about getting on base to spark that when he tried to bunt Braden's first pitch for a hit. He fouled it off and would go on to strike out. Afterward, Braden called the try "intelligent," and he was right.

Evan Longoria was activated from the 15-day disabled list yesterday after the Tampa Bay Rays third baseman said he felt "almost 100 percent" after 30 swings with a bat. "I don't know how much better it could get," Longoria said. "It felt great today." Longoria, out since Aug. 7 after being hit by a pitch from the Seattle Mariners' J.J. Putz, had not swung a bat in four days because of pain in his fractured right wrist. He is hitting .278 with 22 homers and 71 RBIs in 104 games and is considered a leading contender for American League Rookie of the Year.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Evan Longoria admitted his left quadriceps still bothers him. "I felt like Kirk Gibson a little bit," quipped Longoria, referring to the hobbled Gibson's dramatic pinch-hit home run in 1988 that sparked the Dodgers to a World Series victory. But after Longoria hit two doubles and a two-run home run Sunday, the Rays are on the verge of a heroic comeback. Their 5-2 victory over the Rangers forced a fifth and deciding game Tuesday in the American League Division Series.

SARASOTA, Fla. - When the Orioles arrived in Boston last September for their final regular season series at Fenway Park, Rays manager Joe Maddon - his own team leaving Boston for the Bronx trailing the Red Sox in the wild card race by two games - asked to leave a bottle of wine in the visiting clubhouse for Orioles manager Buck Showalter attached with a note that said "Go get them. " Baltimore had long since been eliminated from the postseason, and was on its way to completing a 14th straight losing season, but the Orioles would have their say in the postseason race.

Predicted finish, records Red Sox Yankees Blue Jays Rays Orioles 94-68 92-71 81-81 78-84 70-92 Pennants, wild cards since 1995: 10, 12. Average payroll: $111.8 million (First of six divisions). Managers with World Series rings: Terry Francona ('04, '07), Joe Girardi ('09). Players with MVP awards: Dustin Pedroia ('08), Alex Rodriguez ('03, '05, '07)

The Orioles' series finale with the Tampa Bay Rays had already included a series of unusual plays when Evan Longoria came up in the eighth inning and lined a Jeremy Accardo pitch to center field. Orioles center fielder Adam Jones broke on the ball, but it tailed away from him and hit off his glove, rolling all the way to the center-field wall. Jones sprinted after it, but by the time he threw the ball back into second baseman Ryan Adams , Longoria was rounding third.

For the fifth time in his last seven starts, Jeremy Guthrie walked off the mound Friday without getting one run of support from his Orioles' teammates. That pathetic offensive pattern has led to another: Guthrie getting tagged with a loss when he deserved a better fate. The Orioles were shut out by Tampa Bay rookie Jeremy Hellickson for the second time in six days, this time in a 3-0 loss at Tropicana Field in front of an announced crowd of 20,476. Dating back to the sixth inning on Wednesday, the Orioles have now scored in just one of their past 23 innings -- the two-run 12th that gave them a comeback victory against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

Orioles right-hander Jeremy Guthrie once again received no run support while he was on the mound Saturday afternoon. This time, the offense's striking inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities even made a little franchise history, yet it hardly mattered in an 8-2 bashing by the Tampa Bay Rays. Because Guthrie turned in his worst outing of the young season, giving up a pair of three-run homers and a total of seven, two-out runs in five innings, increasing his ERA from 3.00 to 4.09.

The Orioles' 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on an ugly, rainy, sloppy night Friday at Camden Yards provided a crystal-clear example of what separates successful veteran pitchers from inexperienced ones that are seemingly headed toward that path. Tampa Bay's 29-year-old right-hander James Shields threw 103 pitches, lasted 71/3 innings and turned over a lead to his bullpen to get five outs and secure his team's ninth win in 12 games. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Orioles lefty Zach Britton threw eight fewer pitches, made it through 51/3 innings and forced an increasingly taxed bullpen to pitch the rest of the night.

There were moments Sunday when Zach Britton reminded everybody why he's considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He froze the second batter he faced, Elliot Johnson, with a 92 mph sinker at the knees for his first career strikeout. In the second, he threw a fastball right by Sean Rodriguez for a third strike and fanned the next batter, Dan Johnson, on a changeup to end the inning. But by the far the most impressive aspect of Britton's major league debut was this: The 23-year-old left-hander allowed just one run and three hits against the Tampa Bay Rays while barely throwing his best pitch.

Predicted finish, records Red Sox Yankees Blue Jays Rays Orioles 94-68 92-71 81-81 78-84 70-92 Pennants, wild cards since 1995: 10, 12. Average payroll: $111.8 million (First of six divisions). Managers with World Series rings: Terry Francona ('04, '07), Joe Girardi ('09). Players with MVP awards: Dustin Pedroia ('08), Alex Rodriguez ('03, '05, '07)

There's a certain stigma associated with the word "spoiler" in baseball. It means a team isn't good enough to be in playoff contention so it must derive satisfaction from beating successful clubs. Frankly, the Orioles haven't played well enough down the stretch in the last decade to warrant the spoiler tag, routinely stumbling in August and September against contenders. Under new manager Buck Showalter, however, the Orioles have already turned in their first winning August in 13 years and now, with their 8-7 victory over the American League Wild Card-leading Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, they seem to be inching closer toward spoiler status.

The Orioles' 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on an ugly, rainy, sloppy night Friday at Camden Yards provided a crystal-clear example of what separates successful veteran pitchers from inexperienced ones that are seemingly headed toward that path. Tampa Bay's 29-year-old right-hander James Shields threw 103 pitches, lasted 71/3 innings and turned over a lead to his bullpen to get five outs and secure his team's ninth win in 12 games. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Orioles lefty Zach Britton threw eight fewer pitches, made it through 51/3 innings and forced an increasingly taxed bullpen to pitch the rest of the night.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Evan Longoria admitted his left quadriceps still bothers him. "I felt like Kirk Gibson a little bit," quipped Longoria, referring to the hobbled Gibson's dramatic pinch-hit home run in 1988 that sparked the Dodgers to a World Series victory. But after Longoria hit two doubles and a two-run home run Sunday, the Rays are on the verge of a heroic comeback. Their 5-2 victory over the Rangers forced a fifth and deciding game Tuesday in the American League Division Series.