Longoria hit for the cycle to pace Rays./STEVE MUNCIE
Wednesday, 2 a.m.
Captain America is known for his cycle.
Marlon Brando is known for his. Peter Fonda, too. And the guy who used to be known as Lance Armstrong.
And now, there is Evan Longoria.
Cyclist.
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Archer went six innings for the victory ./TRAVIS PENDERGRASS
Longoria hit for the cycle Tuesday, delivering — in order — a home run, a triple, a single and a double — to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros. It was only the second cycle in the history of the Rays, following one by B.J. Upton back in 2009.
It was the ninth inning when Longoria completed his feat, hitting a liner to left and running hard for second, obviously going for the double he needed. Longoria was originally called out, but a replay led to a reversal.
Morrison hit his 27th home run of the year./STEVE MUNCIE
“Obviously, they don't come very often,” Longoria said. “I was obviously thinking about it. It's tough when you're thinking about it. I would have been more confident if I only needed a single.
“It was kind of surreal. The ball could have been caught and I wouldn't have known it. I felt like I was safe initially.”
Longoria also had three RBI on the night.
“It's awesome,” teammate Chris Archer said. “It's only the second time in franchise history. Any time you can say that ... I was glad I was part of the game to witness it.”
Longoria's recent hot streak has him up to a .276 average.
The Rays built a 5-0 lead, but there is a reason Houston has baseball's best record. The Astros scored two in the fifth and two in the seventh to make it close.
Dickerson's average fell below .300 on the season./JEFFREY S. KING
Once again, the Rays used four relief pitchers to shut out Houston. The Astros got only one hit against the Tampa Bay bullpen. Tommy Hunter went 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief, and Alex Colome sat down the Astros in order in the ninth.
“Tommy is having a tremendous year for us.
Cash said. “He's gotten a lot of big outs. The save is really promoted, but what Tommy has done ... he's been a huge part of our success.”
With the win, the Rays moved within a 1 ½ games of the final wild-card spot and four games behind Boston in the AL East.
For the Rays, Lucas Duda and Logan Morrison had two hits. Morrison hit his 27th homer after Longoria's, the 12th time this season that the Rays have hit back-to-back homers.
The Rays play against Houston again tonight when Austin Pruitt pitches against Dallas Keuchel at 7:10 p.m.
Hechavarria went one-for-three and was sharp at short../CARMEN MANDATO
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