BALTIMORE — The Orioles had their ace on the mound and a two-run lead against the last-place Tampa Bay Rays.
That seemingly ideal situation was thrown awry by Evan Longoria.
Longoria homered, tripled and scored three runs as the Rays blunted Baltimore's playoff push with a 5-2 victory Saturday night.
The loss dropped Baltimore three games behind first-place Boston in the AL East and a half-game in back of Toronto for the top AL wild-card slot, pending the Blue Jays' late game at the Los Angeles Angels.
"They understand the atmosphere that they're playing in," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.