David Price Pitches His Heart Out, Longoria Walks Off

David Price started this game really humming, just dominant. He struck out two in the first, two in the second and one in the third. His opposite Johnny Cueto was almost just as good. Neither allowed a hit through the first three innings. Price was perfect through four innings, but Johnny Damon finally ended the no-hit game with a home run.

At that point, I was thinking, Price had his run. Let’s see if he can finished this shutout and maybe something better. (I’m always looking for no-hitters/perfect games.) That ended in the fifth when Reid Brignac committed an error and then Ramon Hernandez singled.

He still had the lead and the shutout, but then he had more trouble putting hitters away. He struck out two more in the sixth and one more in the seventh (he had 12 for the game), but the Reds tied the game off of him in the eighth when Drew Stubbs triple and Edgar Renteria singled him home. Two more strikeouts later, Joey Votto doubled home the lead run. That was it for Price who threw a terrific game. Again, it seemed like he would be walking off of the Tropicana Field diamond with another tough loss.

This time the Rays came back with a bit of luck. They got two runners with two out when Damon blooped a ball that just ticked off of Chris Heisey‘s glove. If the ball had landed untouched, then only one run would have scored. Instead, Heasey pushed the ball towards an empty center field and Sam Fuld was able to score all the way from first.

Kyle Farnsworth immediately gave the lead back when Jay Bruce led off the ninth with a home run to center field. Undaunted, Evan Longoria led off with a walk-off home run to left field.

It was one of the signature wins of the year, the type of win that if they make the postseason, we’ll all look back on.

Player of the Game: David Price, Johnny Damon

W: Kyle Farnsworth (3-1) 2.20 ERA

L: Logan Ondrusek (3-3) 1.88 ERA

Each starter pitched too well for relievers to get all the credit.