Rays stay alive; Orioles fall game behind Yankees

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Joe Maddon planned to sleep well, regardless of whether the Tampa Bay Rays get the help they need to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

The Rays did their part by beating the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, Monday night, and their manager insisted he wouldn't do any scoreboard watching before heading to bed.

Instead, Maddon said he intended to watch a video replay of the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears rather than worry about whether the Oakland Athletics won or lost.

"I'll find out tomorrow morning," said Maddon, who then was asked if he expected to sleep well. "Absolutely. Like a baby."

The Rays won for the 11th time in 12 games, a stretch that's kept them in contention for the AL's second wild card.

They began the night trailing Oakland by three games and must sweep the Orioles and hope the A's drop three straight to Texas to remain alive.

Baltimore already is assured of being in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, but still has its sights on outlasting the Yankees for the AL East title. The Orioles fell a game out of first place behind when the Yankees beat Boston.

"We didn't take care of our business," Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones said. "We lost. When it comes to the Yankees, we can't control them."

Manager Buck Showalter understands the division challenge, especially with the Yankees ending the regular season at home.

"We'll do what we can do," Showalter said. "We have to take care of ourselves."

Ben Zobrist hit his 20th homer and Chris Giminez had a two-run double off Wei-Yin Chen as the Rays pulled away from a 1-1 tie in the seventh.