Rays come back on Red Sox, keep pace with Yankees

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Carlos Peña and Carl Crawford homered to back James Shields and help Tampa Bay retain a share of first place in the AL East with a 5-3 victory over Boston last night.

Keeping pace with the Yankees, the Rays rebounded from losing the opener of the series to win two straight and drop the third-place Red Sox 61/2 games behind in the division and wild-card races.

The Rays and Yankees have been tied for the last seven days. "That's interesting," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after his team won for the 11th time in 15 games. "That's just the way it is. And I expect the same kind of September. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth."

Shields (13-11) won for the sixth time in eight starts, allowing three runs and seven hits in 62/3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight before turning over a one-run lead to the bullpen.

Peña and Crawford homered off John Lackey (12-8). Peña hit a solo shot in the fourth and Crawford delivered a two-run shot that wiped out a 3-1 Boston lead in the sixth. Dan Johnson's RBI single snapped the 3-all tie later in the sixth. Evan Longoria drove in the final run charged to Lackey with a two-out single off Hideki Okajima in the seventh.

Johnson hit a solo homer in the 10th inning Saturday night to give the Rays a 2-1 victory over Boston.

Reliever Randy Choate got the final out of the seventh and Joaquin Benoit pitched a perfect eighth before Rafael Soriano set down the Red Sox in the ninth to earn his major league-leading 39th save in 41 opportunities.- AP