Evan Longoria

Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria has agreed to a new contract that adds six seasons and $100 million to his deal with the Rays. "We drafted Evan in 2006 with the belief that he and the organization would grow with each other and together accomplish great things," Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said Monday in a statement. "That is why the Rays and Evan signed a long-term contract in 2008, and it is why we are extending our commitments. Evan has clearly become a cornerstone player and a fixture in our organization.

Powering down The San Diego Padres moved in the outfield fences this season, a nod to hitters frustrated when a home run anywhere else would be an out at Petco Park. In the Padres' first 10 home games, three balls that would have been outs last season went for home runs. "All for the other guys," Padres Manager Bud Black said. It's been that kind of start for the Padres, whose record through Friday was worse than any team other than the losing-by-design Houston Astros and Miami Marlins.

The Rays have been scoring three-quarters of a run more with Evan Longoria in their lineup than without him this year. He's back, but for the time being is limited to DH duties and unlikely to play more than three or four games in a row before resting his hamstrings. Don't pencil in Angels rookie Mike Trout for the Hall of Fame just yet. One other player had a 20 homer, 30 stolen base season before age 22, and Cesar Cedeno ended his 17-year career with 199 homers and 550 stolen bases.

Evan Longoria says he wants to be with the Tampa Bay Rays for his entire big league career. The slugging third baseman got his wish Monday when he and the Rays agreed to a $136.6-million, 10-year contract that adds six guaranteed seasons and $100 million. "I always wanted to be kind of a benchmark player … the guy that you could think about or associate with the organization," Longoria said. "My goal from day one was to be the first player that played their whole career here, to be the first guy that came into the organization and went out in the organization, and played all the years in between.

at Tampa Bay 6, Boston 2: Evan Longoria hit a grand slam and is batting 10 for 22 with 13 runs batted in against the Red Sox this season. at Toronto 8, Baltimore 4: Roy Halladay won his 10th straight decision against the Orioles and Kevin Millar drove in three runs against his former team. Halladay has not lost to the Orioles since May 4, 2005, and is 19-4 against them.

Reporting from Arlington, Texas Evan Longoria admitted his left quadriceps still bothered him. "I felt like Kirk Gibson a little bit," said 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 homer Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays are on the verge of a stirring comeback. Their 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers forced a fifth and deciding game Tuesday in the American League division series.

Swinging the bat came naturally for Evan Longoria. Speaking his mind took some nurturing. The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman was already one of the most dynamic young players in baseball two months ago when he did something that fledgling stars are often reluctant to do: call out a teammate. Longoria confronted B.J. Upton in the dugout after the outfielder jogged toward a ball hit in the left-center field gap at Tropicana Field, allowing Arizona's Rusty Ryal to stretch what should have been a double into a triple.

James Shields gave up three hits over seven innings, Evan Longoria hit his major league-leading fifth home run and the Tampa Bay Rays averted a three-game sweep by beating the Baltimore Orioles, 11-3, on Sunday. Longoria was three for five and is batting .481. He has five consecutive multihit games and has driven at least one run in five of six starts. Ben Zobrist, Jason Bartlett and Carlos Pena also homered for the Rays, who got 17 hits. Shields (1-1) struck out three and walked one.

Ernie Banks made 14 All-Star teams during a 19-year Hall of Fame career in which he hit 512 home runs and won two most-valuable-player awards. But he never played in a World Series. Hector Lopez played in five World Series in as many years. Yet, he never made an All-Star team.

at Tampa Bay 13, Boston 0: Matt Garza took a perfect game into the seventh and Evan Longoria homered and drove in four runs for the Rays. Garza allowed his first baserunner on Jacoby Ellsbury's infield single. at Kansas City 8, Toronto 6: John Buck tripled twice and drove in five runs and the Royals turned six double plays in the victory. at New York 7, Angels 4: Melky Cabrera hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning.

The Oakland Athletics' hopes of winning the American League West were dashed Thursday with their 9-7 loss to the first-place Texas Rangers, who now have a four-game lead over Oakland with six games to play. But the Athletics still are clinging to the second AL wild-card berth by two games over the Angels - who failed to capitalize on the Athletics' loss with a 9-4 loss of their own to the Seattle Mariners - and the Tampa Bay Rays. Oakland now has three games with the Mariners starting Friday while the Angels play three with Texas.

The Angels held a 30-minute players-only meeting to, as Manager Mike Scioscia said, "clear the air" after Saturday night's stunning 10-8 loss to the Rays. The Angels pounded out 13 hits, including homers by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols , in the first three innings to take an 8-0 lead and seemed well on their way to a potentially tide-turning win. But C.J. Wilson was rocked for seven runs and five hits, including Ben Zobrist 's three-run double and Evan Longoria 's two-run homer, and two walks in the fifth; Jason Isringhausen gave up the score-tying run in the sixth; and Kevin Jepsen gave up a tiebreaking two-run homer to Carlos Pena in the eighth.

Dan Haren's pride took a hit in July when the durable Angels right-hander went on the disabled list for the first time in his career, ending a run of eight seasons without missing a start. His ego might take the equivalent of a Mike Tyson shot to the solar plexus if he is skipped in or pulled from the rotation, both possibilities after another shaky start in Thursday night's 7-0 loss to Tampa Bay in Angel Stadium. Haren was rocked for five runs and seven hits, including solo homers by Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton, in 32/3 innings, giving the Angels no chance against Rays left-hander David Price, who gave up three hits and struck out eight in seven scoreless innings.

The Rays have been scoring three-quarters of a run more with Evan Longoria in their lineup than without him this year. He's back, but for the time being is limited to DH duties and unlikely to play more than three or four games in a row before resting his hamstrings. Don't pencil in Angels rookie Mike Trout for the Hall of Fame just yet. One other player had a 20 homer, 30 stolen base season before age 22, and Cesar Cedeno ended his 17-year career with 199 homers and 550 stolen bases.

Game 1: Today, 2 p.m., TBS Tampa Bay (LHP Matt Moore 1-0, 2.89) at Texas (LHP C.J. Wilson, 16-7, 2.94) Game 2: Saturday, 4 p.m., TNT Tampa Bay (RHP James Shields, 16-12, 2.82) at Texas (LHP Derek Holland (16-5, 3.95) Game 3: Monday, 2 p.m., TBS Texas (RHP Colby Lewis, 14-10, 4.40) at Tampa Bay (RHP Jeremy Hellickson, 13-10, 2.95) Game 4*: Tuesday, TBA Texas (LHP Matt Harrison, 14-9, 3.39) at Tampa Bay (LHP David Price, 12-13, 3.49)

Let's see the playoffs top that. On what was the most nail-biting conclusion to a regular season in baseball history, the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays completed two of the greatest stretch runs to win the National and American league wild-card playoff berths while the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox suffered the two most spectacular September collapses of all time. But what happened isn't nearly as dramatic as how. Tampa Bay, which trailed 7-0 in the eighth inning, clinched its playoff berth by beating the New York Yankees, 8-7, when Evan Longoria homered in the 12th, just minutes after the Red Sox blew a ninth-inning lead and lost in Baltimore, 4-3. In the National League, the Braves coughed up the lead in the ninth and the game in the 13th, falling to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, and giving the NL's wild-card spot to the Cardinals, who shut out Houston, 8-0, earlier in the night.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Former Long Beach State star Evan Longoria hit three home runs for Tampa Bay, but Alexi Casilla went deep in Minnesota's five-run ninth inning, helping the Twins rally for an 11-8 victory over the Rays on Thursday night. Minnesota ended a four-game skid and pulled to within 1 1/2 games of the Central-leading Chicago White Sox. Casilla's two-run drive off Dan Wheeler (4-4) tied the score, 8-8.

Warmed by a draft Years from now — heck, months from now — few people may remember who the Texas Rangers took with their first pick in last week's Major League Baseball draft. (It was Georgia high school left-hander Kevin Matthews .) But let's hope it's a while before people forget who the Rangers took in the 33rd round. That's when Texas selected University of Georgia outfielder Johnathan Taylor , who has been partially paralyzed since his neck was broken during a collision in the outfield three months ago. "This was truly a classy move and a great gesture on the part of the Texas Rangers organization," Georgia Coach David Perno said.