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 Floyd's shot to right field off Ryan Dempster traveled an estimated 429 feet. Longoria led off the sixth with his 11th of the season, snapping a 1-all tie against Neal Cotts (0-1), who had a two-base throwing error in the seventh to set up Tampa Bay's other run.
Grant Balfour (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings in relief of Scott Kazmir to get the win. The starter held the Cubs to one run and three hits in 4 2-3 innings, and the Rays bullpen limited the team with baseball's best record to three hits the rest of the way.
Troy Percival worked an eventful ninth for his 16th save in 18 opportunities.
After Geovany Soto flied out on the warning track in left, Percival gave up a single to Mark DeRosa and a double to pinch hitter Kosuke Fukudome. DeRosa scored on a passed ball, and the Rays nearly blew the lead when Percival low pitch to Jim Edmonds skipped past catcher Dioner Navarro with two outs.
But the ball caromed off the backstop perfectly, forcing Fukodome to remain at third. When Edmonds walked, Reed Johnson layed a bunt down the third base line that Longoria fielded and threw to first on one hop to end the 3 1-2 hour game.
The victory was before a crowd of 31,607 -- a number bolstered by thousands of Cub fans relishing Chicago's first-ever trip to Tampa Bay.
It was also the Rays' 41st victory of the season, one shy of their most ever before the All-Star break. They won 42 before the break in 2004, when Piniella wound up leading his hometown team to a franchise-best 70 wins.
Piniella was with the Rays from 2003-2005, going 200-285 before being bought of the final year of his contract. It's a move he sought because losing was wearing on him, and the 64-year-old lifelong resident of Tampa reiterated before the game that has no regrets.
"I'm happy where I'm at right now. It's worked out well for everybody," Piniella said, adding that it's great to see his old team doing well and contending in the AL East.
"We had a nucleus of good young kids here. There were areas, obviously, that the organization needed to get better at. And, they have, to their credit," he said.
Kazmir is one of the youngsters Piniella was talking about. At 24, he's the youngest member of Tampa Bay's rotation and is already the club's career leader in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched.
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The left-hander held the Cubs hitless until Henry Blanco singled off the glove of diving second baseman Akinori Iwamura with one out in the fifth. After fanning Ronny Cedeno, he gave up an infield single to Reed Johnson and the Cubs tied it 1-all when Ryan Theriot's grounder deflected the glove of diving first baseman Willy Aybar glove and bounded over the head of Iwamura for a RBI single.
Kazmir walked Derrek Lee to load the bases, but the Cubs wasted an opportunity to go ahead when Balfour struck out Aramis Ramirez to end the inning. Kazmir, who's allowed just two earned runs and 15 hits in five home starts this season, threw 110 pitches.
The Rays squandered two chances to take control against Dempster, failing to score after loading the bases with one out in the third and stranding runners at the corners in the fifth when the Chicago starter struck out Eric Hinske to escape the jam.
Dempster threw 107 pitches in five innings, departing after allowing one run and six hits. He walked two and struck out six.
Notes: Kazmir walked four and struck out seven. ... Rays LF Carl Crawford finished a four-game suspension for his part in Tampa Bay's bench-clearing brawl at Boston on June 5 and returns to the lineup Tuesday. Iwamura is appealing his three-game suspension, which was scheduled to start Wednesday. ... The Cubs recalled OF Matt Murton from Triple-A Iowa. INF Eric Paterson was optioned to Iowa.
[Associated Press; By FRED GOODALL]
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