Speculation for the last couple of days was that Rays third baseman Evan Longoria might sit out a game, including the season-ending contest against the Orioles, to rest his ailing hamstring.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, Longoria was in the lineup Wednesday and hit three home runs to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 win against the Orioles, who entered the night hoping to tie the Yankees for the AL East lead. The Yankees, who have a one-game lead on the Birds, are now the division champion.

J.J. Hardy led off the ninth inning with a double for the Orioles and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam Jones. Matt Wieters, with two outs in the inning, singled, but a fly out by Jim Thome ended the game. The Orioles are the second wild-card team and will head to Texas to play the Rangers Friday night.

The Athletics swept the Rangers during the last three days, and Oakland won the AL West as a result. The Rangers and Orioles finished with identical 93-69 records, but the Rangers will host the wild-card game because they won five of their seven games against the Orioles this season.

Posted Oct. 3, 2012