Tampa Bay Rays weekly report

The Rays' 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night helped them to keep pace with the division-leading Yankees and Red Sox, who also won, and in third place in the Wild Card race. Solo homers by Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton helped Jeff Niemann (11-5) get the win. Niemann pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits, one earned run, one home run, walking one and striking out five. J.P. Howell pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 14^th save.

On Thursday night, the Rays fell short 8-7 against the Orioles. Ben Zobrist had a pair of hits, including a three-run homer, and four RBIs, but the three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning weren't enough. James Shields (7-10) gave up four runs, one of them earned, in 5 2/3 innings, and took the loss. He also gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out five.

The Rays started a weekend series on Friday against the Texas Rangers with a 5-3 victory. Scott Kazmir was awesome, pitching 7 1/3 innings, while the Rays' offense delivered. Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena had back-to-back homers in the fifth inning. Kazmir (8-7) gave up five hits, three earned runs, a homer, walked two and struck out four. J.P. Howell closed it out with his 15^th save of the season.

On Saturday, five runs was just enough for the Rays to beat the Rangers 5-4. Carlos Pena went long twice for his league-leading 33^rd and 34^th blasts, and Pena won it in the 10th inning with a walk-off single. Grant Balfour (5-2) got the win in relief, pitching one inning and striking out two.

The Rays' bats took the day off Sunday as the Rangers salvaged their series with a 4-0 win. David Price (6-6) allowed just three hits in seven innings, but he walked three and two of the walks led to three runs. Price struck out four.

The Rays on Monday embarked on a road trip starting in Toronto, where their bats awoke and pounded out a 12-7 win over the Blue Jays. Down 6-3 after three innings, the Rays came back strong against All-Star Roy Halladay. Jason Bartlett had three hits off Halladay, and Carlos Pena had three RBIs, two on a homer. Randy Niemann (12-5) had a tough outing, but the bats bailed him out. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits, six runs (five of them earned), one homer, walked three and struck out three.

On Tuesday, the Rays continued their winning ways with a 7-3 defeat of the Blue Jays. Carlos Pena smacked two two-run homers as the bats helped winning pitcher James Shields (8-10). Shields pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up eight hits, three earned runs, two home runs, walking two and striking out five.