Last night, with the Rays trailing 2-1, Longoria cranked a grand slam off Justin Masterson, and the Rays never looked back, bashing the Sox , 6-2.

``We've been looking for that big hit,'' said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, ``and Longo gave it to us (Thursday) night and again (last night) in very crucial moments.''

Longoria is the right place to be looking when the Rays need a big hit against the Red Sox . In five games against the Sox this season, Longoria is hitting a torrid .455 (10-for-22) with four homers and 13 RBI. Of the seven homers that he's hit this season, four have come against the Red Sox .

That's nothing new. As the AL Rookie of the Year last year, Longoria made his presence felt to the Sox . In all, through 27 career games against the Red Sox , Longoria is averaging exactly an RBI per game while batting .296 and hitting eight homers.

``Longo is the kind of player who likes the big moment,'' said Maddon approvingly. ``He's always ready and his preparation has gotten better this year. We play the Red Sox a lot and I'd like to believe that he's going to do that against a lot of teams, as he goes further into his career.'' Masterson was a strike away from getting out of a tough inning in which he walked two Rays and hit another. He got ahead of Longoria, but left a fastball out over the middle of the plate, which Longoria drove out to left-center field.

``He'd been pretty much dominating me the whole game with the hard sinker and slider,'' recounted Longoria, who took a called third strike in the first and rolled out to second in the third.

``I was battling there. He got the two strikes and I figured he would throw the slider I was actually looking for and (fortunately) he left the fastball over the middle and I was able to handle it. Typically, in that situation, he's able to slide it down a little more bit more.''

To be fair, Longoria isn't limiting his damage to just the Red Sox ; it only seems that way. The third baseman took over the RBI lead in the American League last night - he has 28 - and is among the league leaders in homers, too. Maddon cites Longoria's ability to use the whole field and a better approach with two strikes as the reasons for his improvement this season.

In all likelihood, Longoria will continue to be a concern for the Sox . Just 23, he is emerging as one of the game's best all-around players.

Add in the fact that, as a division opponent, Longoria will see the Sox at least 18 times per season and the potential for further damage is obvious.

``When we play Boston, or anyone in our division,'' said Longoria, ``everybody gets a little more ramped up. A lot of times, we end up playing our best Baseball against the better teams in our division.''

``You always want to see Longo up in those moments,'' said Maddon.

If you're the Rays, sure.

If you're the Red Sox , at this point, they'd rather see almost anyone else.

- smcadam@bostonherald.com