Rays beat Orioles again after Friday night's 18-inning win

The Tampa Bay Rays rode the momentum of a marathon victory to another big win.

Desmond Jennings had four RBIs and Alex Cobb took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning yesterday as the Rays beat the Orioles, 5-1, in a matchup of exhausted teams to maintain their lead in the AL wild-card race.

"We've got to keep things going," said Jennings, who hit a three-run homer and an RBI triple. "There's no relaxing or anything like that. Keep finding ways to win games."

The first pitch came 10 hours, 56 minutes after the Rays' 5-4, 18-inning win over Baltimore that ended at 2:05 a.m. yesterday, a game that stretched on for 6:54.

Cobb, in a common practice, left the ballpark early Friday night and went to bed 21/2 hours before the game ended. "You can't put into words how appreciative you are when you're on the mound and these guys after an 18-inning game -- when you're in bed sleeping while they're putting together a win -- and they come out with the same intensity for you the next day," Cobb said. "It's amazing."

Tampa Bay maintained a half-game lead over Cleveland, which holds the second wild-card position. The Orioles dropped 31/2 games behind the Indians.

Chris Davis tripled with one out in the ninth, a fly ball that David DeJesus struggled to locate in left. Adam Jones followed with an RBI single that chased Cobb, who struck out 12 and walked two.

Indians 4, Astros 1: Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings and Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer for host Cleveland.

Rangers 3, Royals 1: Matt Garza pitched eight impressive innings for his first victory in six starts for visiting Texas, which won for only the fifth time in 19 September games.

Athletics 9, Twins 1: Jarrod Parker (12-7) allowed one run in six innings as host Oakland lowered its magic number to one for clinching its second straight AL West title. -- AP