Rays move closer to Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays moved within 11/2 games of Boston in the AL wild-card race last night, getting a clutch three-run homer from Johnny Damon in a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"I feel real good about our chances, and if we can somehow get to the playoffs with our pitching staff and our defense, we have a nice shot at winning," Damon said.

Said Rays manager Joe Maddon, "If you had told us at the beginning of spring training we'd be in this position right now, I think we'd all take it."

Damon connected with two outs in the eighth, giving the Rays a four-run lead. It was his third hit of the game. "We can't control what happens in the New York-Boston series. We have to worry about what we can control, and hopefully this is a big pick-me-up," Damon said.

Damon also had a run-scoring double in the first as the Rays won for the second time in six games.

Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 43rd homer for the Blue Jays, who had won seven of 11. Ricky Romero (15-11) gave up six runs -- one earned -- and six hits in 72/3 innings.

Tampa Bay went ahead 3-2 in the fourth on Ben Zobrist's solo homer. He has gone deep three times in his last seven games after going 39 games without a home run.

Angels 4, Athletics 2:Torii Hunter homered and drove in three runs for the host Angels, who moved to within 21/2 games of Boston and one game of Tampa Bay in the wild-card race.

Nationals 4, Braves 1:Chien-Ming Wang (4-3) picked up his first career hit and allowed one run in six innings for host Washington. Atlanta's wild-card lead over St. Louis was cut to two games with four games left.

Cardinals 2, Cubs 1:Carlos Marmol forced home the tying run with a bases-loaded walk to Ryan Theriot with two outs in the ninth and followed with a game-ending wild pitch.-- AP