Final wrap-up: Jays at Rays

Maybe that whole Carl Crawford walking-on-water with light beams shooting from his head thing was no coincidence, because the Rays certainly have friends in high places with the weather. As soon as Balfour retired the side in the top of the ninth and the teams hit the dugouts, the rain started to come down hard again.

Here's what happened in that eighth inning that I missed: There were two outs sandwiched around a Hector Gimenez single up the middle. Then John Rodriguez (how many times do I have to type that guy's name today?) was hit by a pitch. Then some dude named Johnny Raburn (don't ask, he's a scrub filler they just brought up from the minors, although I swear there was a game show host back in the 70s with the same name) singled to right, scoring Gimenez to make it 4-4.

Jon Weber (see Roger Mooney's recent story on Bradenton.com) singled to center, scoring Rodriguez and Raburn, making it 6-4 Rays. The Blue Jays made a pitching change, putting in Jeremy Accardo, who promptly served up an 0-1 pitch that Longoria deposited somewhere far beyond the center field fence, or so I'm told.

I had a chance to speak with Longoria down in the clubhouse a few minutes ago. The dude looks like he's 18, but they've put his locker in some prime real estate, near the likes of B.J. Upton, Aki Iwamura and starting shortstop Jason Bartlett, so you've got to figure they're hoping he fits in sooner rather than later. "I've done what I've been asked," Longoria said of whether he'd be starting the season in the majors. "It's hopefully going to be a tough decision."

As for sitting in a cold dugout on a drizzly day, waiting most of the game to get on the field and make a difference, Longoria said it was all part of the game.

"I've had that drilled in me by coaches at every level, to keep my head in the game for nine innings no matter what," he said. "Obviously, your number is going to get called at some point, whether its the ninth inning or the 13th. I've been called upon late in games a couple of times this spring training. That was nothing new."

All in all, a pretty good performance for a patched-together Rays' lineup against the Blue Jays' A-team (wow, now I've got that theme song in my head...), particularly on a day when Edwin Jackson was roughed up early and the weather was none too friendly. Nice to see them hang in there and turn it around with some younger guys leading the way.

That's all from wet and wild Al Lang Stadium today. Be sure to check back tomorrow for another Rays Live with regular beat writer Roger Mooney, who will either be in Orlando watching one Rays squad play the Braves or, more likely, in Tampa, just in case there's more fireworks with the Yankees. This is Kamon Simpson, signing out.