ESPN

Well, it seems the wrist is fine.

Those who assumed the risk of starting Evan Longoria in their playoff series this week were rewarded with three glorious bombs from the Rays' third baseman on Thursday.

Hopefully his fantasy owners will fare better as the beneficiary of those blasts than the Rays did, as the Twins won 11-8, thanks to a five-run ninth-inning rally, mostly off Dan Wheeler.

Longoria had missed a little bit more than a month with a fractured right wrist, and any time there is that kind of injury to a power hitter, there is at least mild concern that the pop may be slow to come back. Considering Longoria had just 20 at-bats in his return before launching balls out of the yard, that's not the case here, and he now has 25 homers on the season.

The interesting thing is that Longoria told the team Web site that he is still "ironing things out" and estimated that he was about 10 at-bats away from returning to form.

Before Thursday's power surge, Longoria's last homer was on Aug. 5. He would fracture his wrist two days later. The missed time is part of the reason Longoria is only the 16th-best fantasy third baseman in our Player Rater, in what has been a deep position this season. However, he's back on track to developing into a top-10 player at the hot corner as soon as next year.

Past editions: 9/18: Hope for Harang | 9/17: Haren rebounds | 9/16: Sluggin' Shoppach

Tim Lincecum suffered his first loss in almost two months, giving up three runs in eight innings, but two of the earned runs were one he didn't deserve after a ball hit by Justin Upton was horribly misplayed by Eugenio Velez, an infielder making just his fourth start of the season in left field. Instead of being the third out, the ball drove in two. Lincecum should have carried a shutout into the eighth. ... Speaking of Upton, he's coming around lately, hitting .333 with three long homers in 16 games since returning from an oblique injury. He's going to be undervalued in many leagues next season. ... Conor Jackson has picked up right where he left off after missing some games with a sore shoulder, rapping out two hits, stealing a key base, and extending his hitting streak to 10 games. ... Cards reliever Jason Motte picked up his first big league save when he had to bail out Chris Perez, who has had rough outings in four of his last six contests. A converted catcher, Motte can bring it and has impressed manager Tony La Russa in a short time, so this may not be his last save opportunity of the year. ... Cameron Maybin went 4-for-4 and reached base five times batting leadoff for the Marlins. With his athletic ability, he could make huge strides forward in a short period of time. He looks like he will start in center field for the Marlins next year. He'll bring the stolen bases, if nothing else. ... Troy Percival looked good in a scoreless eighth inning for the Rays while Wheeler unraveled, which means they could swap the closer role again shortly. ... Zack Greinke threw seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits and fanning seven. The numbers tell the story: Over his past seven starts, Greinke has a 1.86 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP and is just shy of one strikeout per inning. ... Clayton Kershaw got his pitch count up early again, but still managed to get through five innings allowing just one run. He has a 3.27 ERA in four starts this month with 22 strikeouts in 22 innings. ... Since being called back up to the majors in mid-August and getting a chance at some fairly regular playing time, Nyjer Morgan has hit .344 in 96 at-bats with seven stolen bases. ... Rich Harden allowed just one hit over five innings, but walked six and struck out seven. His ERA stands at 2.03 in the season. ... It wasn't a save situation, but Salomon Torres gave up four runs with a four-run lead in a game the Brewers wound up losing in extra innings. He's still likely to remain the closer for now, though. ... After a horrible August which saw him post a 6.93 ERA, Joe Saunders has bounced back a bit down the stretch, throwing his fourth straight quality start with seven shutout innings, lowering his second-half ERA to 4.27. He also picked up win No. 16. Still, I wouldn't rate him in my Top 60 starting pitchers for next season. ... Status quo in Philly: Cole Hamels with another quality outing, Brad Lidge with another save to go 38-for-38 on the season, and Pat Burrell hitting homer No. 32. ... Bobby Abreu went yard twice and drove in six. He's slugging more than 100 points higher in the second half, with a .540 mark. ... Jesse Litsch posted his sixth quality start in seven outings since returning to the big leagues, with a 1.91 ERA in that time. ... Travis Snider went 1-for-2, and is hitting .348 in his audition for a starting job out of camp next season. ... Brian Schneider hit two homers to give him nine for the season. It was certainly a pleasant surprise for those starting him in their playoff matchups. The homers backed Johan Santana to a win after seven innings of one-run ball, striking out eight. Santana is unbeaten with a 2.38 ERA in the second half.