Longoria seemed open to playing in 2024, but he was looking for a perfect situation that never arose. The 2008 AL Rookie of the Year finishes up a stellar career with a .264/.333/.471 line, 342 homers and 1,159 RBI in 1,986 games over 16 seasons with the Rays, Giants and Diamondbacks.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo will go with the veteran, Longoria, at the hot corner over lefty-masher Emmanuel Rivera to open Wednesday’s win-or-go-home Game 5 matchup at Chase Field. If Arizona is going to keep the Fall Classic going, it has to start in this one. Here’s the full lineup: Corbin Carroll (RF), Ketel Marte (2B), Gabriel Moreno (C), Christian Walker (1B), Tommy Pham (DH), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (LF), Alek Thomas (CF), Longoria (3B) and Geraldo Perdomo (SS).

Emmanuel Rivera’s two-run single and walk off the bench Saturday wasn’t enough to get him a start over Longoria, even though Longoria has hit just .163/.220/.209 in 49 postseason plate appearances and the Diamondbacks consider Rivera the better defender at third. They’re going with what’s turned into the typical lineup versus righties: RF Corbin Carroll, 2B Ketel Marte, C Gabriel Moreno, 1B Christian Walker, DH Tommy Pham, LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr., CF Alek Thomas, 3B Longoria and SS Geraldo Perdomo.

The Diamondbacks have used the same starting nine in all six games thus far, with the only change being that Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte were flipped at the top of the order the one time the team faced a lefty. If they’re ever going to make a change, we imagine it’d be to try Emmanuel Rivera over Longoria at third. The 38-year-old Longoria is just 3-for-18 in the postseason thus far, though he has shined defensively.