With the season winding down, the Tampa Bay Rays think they have enough left in them to make the playoffs. They just need to keep getting some help.
The Rays will try to match a season high with their seventh straight win Wednesday night when they finish a two-game set against the Boston Red Sox.
Tampa Bay has moved within three games of the second AL wild card and must still overtake the Los Angeles Angels as the two try to challenge current wild-card holders Baltimore and Oakland.
The Rays (84-70) seemed out of contention after losing the first two games of their four-game set with Boston last week, but they have bounced back, winning 5-2 Tuesday for their sixth straight victory.
Jeff Keppinger hit a three-run homer in the second and David Price earned his AL high-tying 19th win, striking out 13 in a seven-hitter.
"We feel good. Nobody has hit the panic button in this locker room," Price said. "We're playing well right now and need to keep it going."It was the fifth time in six games Tampa Bay scored at least five runs and had at least 10 hits. The Rays are batting .346 with 11 homers during their winning streak, with Keppinger 12 for 22 (.545) during that span.
Tampa Bay, which has little room for error, will look to match its longest winning streak of the season Wednesday, last winning seven straight Aug. 7-13.
With its rotation shuffled, Alex Cobb (9-9, 4.27 ERA) will pitch on extra rest, taking the mound for the first time since going six innings in a 5-2 loss to Boston on Sept. 17.
Cobb, who had won his previous five decisions, allowed four runs and two hits, including a sixth-inning two-run homer. He and catcher Jose Molina got into a heated discussion after the top half of the sixth, which also featured a wild pitch and passed ball.
The right-hander, who failed to make it out of the fifth inning in two of his previous three starts, picked up a win at Fenway Park on May 25, allowing two runs, three hits and four walks in five innings of a 7-4 victory.
The Red Sox (69-86), who need to win four of their final seven to avoid their first 90-loss season since going 72-90 in 1966, have dropped five of six. Their starters are 0-3 with a 4.84 ERA during that six-game stretch after Clay Buchholz was reached for five runs and eight hits over six innings Tuesday.
Jon Lester (9-13, 4.96), who has lost his last two starts, takes the mound Wednesday.
He gave up four runs in seven innings of a 4-2 loss to Baltimore last Friday - his first defeat against the Orioles.
"Jon was good actually tonight," manager Bobby Valentine told the Red Sox's official website. "His pitches were crisp."
Lester was far from crisp in his only outing against the Rays this year. He was charged with seven runs and three homers over four innings losing to Cobb in May.
The defeat was his third straight against the Rays, dropping him to 10-7 lifetime against them. He has a 4.29 ERA in 21 career outings against them.
Carlos Pena is 11 for 39 with six homers against Lester, the most the left-hander has allowed against any hitter in his career.
AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Brandon Allen | 3 | .333 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | 1.666 | 1.333 |
| Desmond Jennings | 9 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .400 | .956 | .556 |
| Elliot Johnson | 5 | .200 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .400 | .200 |
| Matt Joyce | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Jose Lobaton | 5 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Evan Longoria | 37 | .243 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 12 | .333 | .738 | .405 |
| Jose Molina | 15 | .333 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .412 | .745 | .333 |
| Carlos Pena | 37 | .270 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 11 | .383 | 1.086 | .703 |
| Will Rhymes | 4 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.250 | .750 |
| Sean Rodriguez | 14 | .143 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | .278 | .492 | .214 |
| Luke Scott | 8 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| B.J. Upton | 49 | .204 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | .264 | .611 | .347 |
| Ben Zobrist | 31 | .226 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | .333 | .688 | .355 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Mike Aviles | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
 Tampa Bay Rays |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 25, 2012 | Jose Molina | Day-to-Day | Strained right quad |
| September 11, 2012 | Ryan Roberts | Day-to-Day | Left game - strained left forearm |
| September 08, 2012 | Desmond Jennings | Day-to-Day | Lower back stiffness |
| September 07, 2012 | David Price | Day-to-Day | Left shoulder soreness |
| August 31, 2012 | Sean Rodriguez | 15-Day DL | Fractured right hand |
| August 31, 2012 | Sean Rodriguez | 15-Day DL | Fractured right hand |
 Boston Red Sox |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 07, 2012 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Day-to-Day | Left game - back spasms |
| September 02, 2012 | Jacoby Ellsbury | Day-to-Day | Sore right wrist |
| August 25, 2012 | David Ortiz | 15-Day DL | Aggravated right Achilles strain |
| August 25, 2012 | Daniel Nava | 15-Day DL | Sprained left wrist |
| August 25, 2012 | Daniel Nava | 15-Day DL | Sprained left wrist |
| August 24, 2012 | Franklin Morales | 60-Day DL | Left shoulder fatigue |
BOSTON (AP) -- Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon is looking ahead to the last week of the season and thinking about the way 2011 ended, with baseball's pennant races coming down to the final games - and the Rays coming out of it with a spot in the playoffs.
"I want it to be exactly like last year," Maddon said on Wednesday night after the Rays beat Boston 4-2 for their seventh consecutive victory. "It's starting to look a lot like Christmas."
Carlos Pena and Ben Francisco hit back-to-back, tape-measure homers in the fifth inning to help Tampa Bay remain 3 1-2 games behind Baltimore for second place in the AL East. The Rays also kept pace with Oakland, which beat Texas 9-3 and remains three games in front for the second wild-card spot.
"We'll count `em later," Pena said. "Right now we're going to enjoy tonight and come back tomorrow."
They haven't lost since manager Maddon challenged them to run the table like Minnesota Fats. Now he's thinking of another pool-themed bonding experience: "The Hustler," a 1961 movie starring Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman as pool players.
"That might be a good thing to put in the locker room," he said.
The Rays blasted music in the visitors' clubhouse, while players jokingly flashed lights in teammates' eyes and the rookies donned pantyhose and women's swimsuits before heading back onto the field for a well-choreographed dance routine in front of the Green Monster.
Across the diamond, several Red Sox players had already emptied their lockers after the final home game of the season for the Red Sox, and perhaps the last at Fenway Park for Boston manager Bobby Valentine . Hired to inspire a fractious clubhouse after the team went 7-20 last September under Terry Francona , Valentine instead presided over what could be the worst Red Sox team since 1965.
"(It's) disappointing," he said. "We didn't walk off many and didn't score enough runs. We've got a lot saved up for next year."
Alex Cobb (10-9) allowed one run on three hits and a walk, striking out five in five innings as the Rays matched their longest winning streak of the season. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 45th save in 47 chances.
Jon Lester (9-14) gave up three runs on four hits and a walk, striking out five in six innings. He didn't allow a hit until Jeff Keppinger singled to left with one out in the fifth, then he gave up back-to-back home runs.
Pena hit his 19th homer, nearly hitting the back wall behind the seats in straightaway center field. Francisco hit another long homer, this one off a billboard above the Green Monster seats, to make it 3-1.
The Red Sox cut the deficit to one run in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia walked, stole second, went to third on Cody Ross ' single and scored on James Loney 's medium fly ball to right field. The stolen base was Pedroia's second of the game and the 100th of his career.
The Red Sox had some of their all-time greats on the field before the game to help close Fenway Park's 100th anniversary season, with former captain Carl Yastrzemski pronouncing, "The Red Sox will be back."
Although the game was Boston's 793rd consecutive announced sellout - its fifth straight year over 3 million for the season - the ballpark was mostly empty when Rodney struck out Daniel Nava to end the game. Afterward, fans were given the chance to run the bases, and many migrated out to left field to watch the Rays rookies dance.
The Red Sox, who went 34-47 at Fenway, matched their worst home record since 1965 and still have a chance for their worst overall mark since they lost 100 games that season.
They will close the season with three games in Baltimore and three at Yankee Stadium.
And that might be it for Valentine.
"When you don't accomplish what you set out to do, you don't feel like you've done a good job. Simple," he said before the game. "When I come back next year, I'll think I'm prepared to handle it. Hopefully, we'll have better results."
"Not much I would have done differently, I don't think, other than I think would have kept the beer in the clubhouse. I think I could have used one after a few of those games," he said.
NOTES: It was the fifth time the Rays had hit back-to-back homers this season. ... Before the game the Red Sox honored their All Fenway Park Team, with two dozen former players on the field for the ceremony. David Ortiz and Pedroia were the only current players on the 40-man All-Fenway roster. The ceremony capped a yearlong celebration of Fenway's 100th anniversary. ... The final season attendance of 3,043,003 was the smallest since 2007, though just by about 3,400. ... Cobb, who was pitching on eight days' of rest, has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six straight starts. ... The teams split the season series 9-9. ... The Rays made it 4-2 in the seventh on an RBI double by Jose Lobaton .
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Tampa Bay Rays
