"The lead was gone, and now Evan Longoria was getting ready to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.

On came the batting gloves, which he shed Friday in Houston in an effort to get his swing back in order.

In the tunnel leading to the Rays dugout, B.J. Upton told Johnny Damon the game was as good as over.

"We don't have to worry about it," Upton said. "Longo's going deep right here."

And deep Longo went, driving the second pitch he saw from Reds right-hander Logan Ondrusek into the left field seats Tuesday night to give the Rays a 4-3 win in front of 20,894 at Tropicana Field.

"B.J. Upton is definitely psychic," Damon said.

The win, their first in eight tries against the Reds, evened the Rays record at the Trop at 19-19.

More importantly, in came on a night when David Price was nearly unhittable and closer Kyle Farnsworth was not his typical shutdown self, blowing just his second save opportunity of the season when he allowed a leadoff home run to Jay Bruce in the ninth.

"We're just fortunate we have a guy like Longo who can come up after a tough inning and do that walk-off thing that we definitely enjoy," Damon said.

It was the Rays fifth walk-off win of the season, the third on a home run and the third walk-off homer of Longoria's career.

It was also Longoria's fourth home run in his last five games, or since he decided to go gloveless. That it came while wearing batting gloves is a product of the four games he swung glove-free.

"I didn't really have a choice. My hands were hurting too much. I had to put them back on," Longoria said about his decision to wear them before the climatic at-bat. "The big discussion is the batting gloves, but my swing has gotten a lot better. That's what's really turning me around."

For much of the night, it didn't appear as if the Rays would need to bat in the ninth.

Price retired the first 14 batters he faced, eight on strikeouts.

"He had no-hit stuff," Reds manager Dusty Baker said."