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 14th save.
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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 15th 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 33rd and 34th 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.