The Boston Red Sox found another way to lose, this time on a broken-bat single and an inside-the-park homer, and their 6-3 defeat against the Baltimore Orioles Monday night dropped them into a tie in the AL wild-card race. Boston's 17th loss in 22 games enabled Tampa Bay to finally pull even in the duel for the league's final playoff spot. The Rays, who beat the New York Yankees 5-2, trailed by nine games after play on Sept. 3. With the score 2-all in the sixth inning, Boston starter Josh Beckett (13-7) allowed four runs in an uprising that began with Vladimir Guerrero becoming the career hits leader among Dominican-born players. Guerrero broke a tie with Julio Franco by bouncing a single up the middle, his 2,587th career hit. The 36-year-old Guerrero then stole second base, and after a two-out walk to Mark Reynolds, Chris Davis broke his bat hitting a soft liner to right that brought home the go-ahead run. Robert Andino followed with a deep fly to center that Jacoby Ellsbury had in his glove before crashing into the wall. Andino sprinted around the bases and made it home as the relay throw bounced past catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Boston loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Pedro Strop struck out Saltalamacchia and retired Marco Scutaro on a grounder. Although Dustin Pedroia hit an RBI single in a run in the ninth, the Red Sox stranded two runners and fell short in their bid to win a second straight game for the first time since Aug. 27. Boston is 6-19 in September, the second-worst record in the majors behind the Minnesota Twins. It's also the Red Sox's second worst September ever with only a 4-18 mark in 1926 surpassing it according to STATS LLC. Rays 5, Yankees 2: The Tampa Bay Rays moved into a tie with the Boston Red Sox for the wild-card lead, beating the New York Yankees behind another strong performance by James Shields. Shields came within one out of his 12th complete game, yielding six hits. Kyle Farnsworth finished for his 24th save, closing it out moments before the Red Sox lost 6-3 at Baltimore. The Rays and Red Sox each have two games left. B.J. Upton drove in two runs with a third-inning double off Hector Noesi. Kelly Shoppach homered for the second straight day for the Rays, who've won three straight and are 15-8 since Sept. 2, when they trailed Boston by nine games. Johnny Damon's third-inning RBI single moved him into a tie with Lou Gehrig for 57th on the career hits list with 2,721. Robinson Cano homered in the first and hit an RBI single in the third, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead against Shields, who allowed just five baserunners over the last six innings. Phillies 4, Braves 2: The Atlanta Braves took another wrenching loss in their September swoon, squandering an early two-run lead against Cliff Lee as the playoff-bound Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a victory. In other baseball action it was: Astros 5, Cardinals 4, 10 innings; Detroit 14, Cleveland 0; Chi White Sox 4, Toronto 3; Kansas City 7, Minnesota 3; Texas 4, LA Angels 3; Seattle 4, Oakland 2. In National League action it was: Washington 6, Florida 4; Cincinnati 6, NY Mets 5; Pittsburgh 9, Milwaukee 8; LA Dodgers 4, Arizona 2; San Diego 2, Chicago Cubss 0; San Francisco 3, Colorado 1.
