ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Wil Myers hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep.
Myers drove in Evan Longoria, who also doubled off Rubby De La Rosa (0-1), to give the Rays a 4-3 lead.
Jake McGee (5-3) pitched a scoreless eighth before Fernando Rodney got three outs to earn his 34th save. The Rays lead the crowded race for the second AL wild card despite going 5-13 since Aug. 25.
David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for Boston, which has an 8½-game advantage over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The Red Sox threatened in the ninth when Stephen Drew had an infield single and pinch-hitter Mike Carp walked with one out.
Rodney worked out of the jam when pinch-hitter Will Middlebrooks lined out to third and Dustin Pedroia popped out.
Ortiz hit an opposite-field solo homer to left and Drew had a run-scoring double as the Red Sox tied it at 3 in the sixth.
Ortiz has 43 career homers against Tampa Bay, the second-most by an opponent. Of those, 28 have come at Tropicana Field.
Longoria tripled and scored on Myers’ single to put the Rays ahead 1-0 in the second. James Loney made it 2-0 with an RBI double in the third.
Saltalamacchia snapped an 0-for-21 stretch and pulled Boston to 2-1 on a fourth-inning homer.
Tampa Bay went up 3-1 in the bottom half when Desmomd Jennings hit a solo home run.
Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson allowed three runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Boston right-hander Jake Peavy appeared to get hit in the leg by Jennings’ drive in the sixth. The ball was redirected to third baseman Xander Bogaerts, who got a forceout at second.
Peavy gave up three runs, four hits and five walks over six innings.
NOTES: The Red Sox will honor New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera before his last regular-season game at Fenway Park on Sunday. Rivera is retiring after the season. … Boston OF Jacoby Ellsbury (foot), who missed his sixth consecutive game and is not yet doing baseball activities, will have his status evaluated in the next few days. … Rays C Jose Molina left the team to be with his mother, who had surgery. He is expected back Friday. … Shane Victorino was out of the Red Sox lineup because manager John Farrell wanted to give the outfielder a day off from playing on the artificial turf. … 2012 Olympic silver medalist and professional beach volleyball star Jen Kessy served a volleyball from the mound for the ceremonial first pitch..
Angels 4, Blue Jays 3
TORONTO — Garrett Richards pitched 6 2-3 innings for his third straight win, Kole Calhoun hit a solo home run and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.
Erick Aybar had two hits and scored twice as the Angels won for the 15th time in 20 games and improved to 12-2 in their past 14 road contests.
Calhoun went 2 for 3 with a walk to help the Angels win for the 10th time in 13 meetings with the Blue Jays. Los Angeles recorded its first sweep in Toronto since April 16-18, 2010.
Jose Reyes homered and finished 4 for 4 with a walk, but the Blue Jays lost for the 29th time when scoring first.
Richards left after Reyes hit a two-out double in the seventh. Michael Kohn came on and walked Munenori Kawasaki on four pitches, then struck out Brett Lawrie to end the threat.
Richards (7-6) allowed three runs and nine hits, walked one and struck out four. He’s 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA in three September starts.
Moises Sierra hit a one-out double off Dane De La Rosa in the eighth but Rajai Davis struck out and Anthony Gose flied out.
Sierra posted his second straight three-hit game and has five extra-base hits in the past two games.
Reyes hit a two-out double in the ninth and Kawasaki followed with a walk, but Angels closer Ernesto Frieri struck out Lawrie for his 33rd save in 37 chances.
Adam Lind gave the Blue Jays a lead with a two-out RBI double in the first, but the Angels answered with Grant Green’s two-out RBI single in the second.
Angels infielder Erick Aybar made it 2-1 in the second when he tagged up from second base on Mark Trumbo’s fly ball to center and scored when third baseman Lawrie couldn’t handle an errant throw from Gose.

Reyes hit a leadoff homer in the third, his 10th, and Sierra added an RBI double to put the Blue Jays back in front, but their lead didn’t last.

Calhoun tied it at 3-all with a one-out homer in the fourth, his seventh. The blast gave him at least one RBI in 15 of his past 16 starts.

The Angels chased left-hander J.A. Happ and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Aybar and Mike Trout hit back-to-back doubles.

Happ (4-6) lost for the fourth time in five starts, allowing four runs and six hits in 4 1-3 innings. It’s the sixth straight start in which he has failed to pitch at least six innings. He walked two and struck out six.

NOTES: Reyes finished a triple shy of the cycle. … Toronto fell to 18-25 in one-run games. … Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion (left wrist) missed his fourth straight game but was able to hit off the tee before the game. … Toronto OF Colby Rasmus, out since Aug. 11 with a strained muscle in his left side, hopes to return to the lineup this weekend against Baltimore. … Trout started at DH for the Angels to give him a break from Toronto’s artificial turf. … Canadian singer Avril Lavigne attended the game.

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