Longoria helps Rays force fifth game against Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas - Evan Longoria still is limping. But now he's also hitting, and the Tampa Bay Rays are headed home, one victory from an improbable comeback.

Longoria snapped out of his postseason slump with a homer and two doubles and Carlos Peña had a pair of extra-base hits Sunday as Tampa Bay again escaped elimination with a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers to force a deciding Game 5 in the AL Division Series.

"We've really battled to get back to even," Longoria said. "And I think we have a lot of confidence going home and being able to finish the series in our home ballpark."

To do that the Rays will have to beat Cliff Lee, who matched a personal postseason best with 10 strikeouts in a 5-1 series-opening victory.

The visiting team has won each of the four games. The Rays lost the two games at Tropicana Field before winning twice in Texas to push a Division Series to a fifth game for the first time since the Los Angeles Angels beat the Yankees in 2005.

"I still want to believe there is a home-field advantage, and hopefully that's going to show up," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

If the Rays win, they will join the 2001 Yankees as the only teams to lose the first two games at home and still win a five-game series. The series winner hosts Game 1 of the AL Championship Series Friday night against the Yankees.

"It's down to one game, we've got Cliff going and certainly feel good about that," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We have proved that we can win there."

Tampa Bay sends 19-game winner David Price to the mound Tuesday night in a rematch of the Game 1 starters. "I like our chances with Dave on the mound again," Longoria said.

Longoria, still limited by a left quadriceps strain that forced him to miss the last 10 games of the regular season, was in an 0-for-12 slide before he and Peña had consecutive doubles to start the fourth against Tommy Hunter. Longoria added a two-run homer in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.

"I kind of felt like Kirk Gibson going around the bases," he said.