ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- One night the Tampa Bay Rays play long ball. The next they rarely get the ball out of the infield and still beat the Los Angeles Angels.

The AL East leader overcame a strong pitching performance by Los Angeles' Ervin Santana, who took a no-hit bid into the sixth and left with a 2-1 lead after allowing one run and four hits in seven innings.

"It just means we're starting to do things in the right way," manager Joe Maddon said after Tampa Bay improved to 77-48 and held on to its 4 ¬1/2-game lead over second-place Boston in the division.

"We're making less mistakes. We're starting to believe in what we're doing. It just validates the work that we've done," Maddon added. "It's good. But still, there's a long ways to go. It's just nice to be there right now."

Los Angeles let the game slip away in the eighth when the Rays loaded the bases with no outs against Scot Shields (5-4) on two walks and an error. Carlos Pena drew a one-out walk from Darren Oliver, forcing in the tying run before Aybar singled.

James Shields (11-7) allowed two runs and nine hits in eight innings, and Dan Wheeler pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in eight chances as Tampa Bay improved to 6-2 against the AL West-leading Angels, including 5-0 at home.

The Rays won the series opener 6-4, getting two-run homers from Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd. They got their first run Tuesday night on B.J. Upton's infield RBI single, then scored three unearned runs in the eighth, with Aybar's hit the only ball getting to the outfield.

"I don't think we've played particularly bad in any of these games, but tonight was one bad inning," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

"We set the table for them and cracked it open further with an error and those guys capped it off with a hit. We just didn't get it done late. We've been doing a terrific job of that, but not tonight."

Vladimir Guerrero hit his 23rd home run for Los Angeles, a solo shot in the second. Garret Anderson made it 2-0 in the fourth with an RBI double that extended his hitting streak to 22 games.

Maddon was ejected in the sixth for arguing with first base umpire Jerry Meals after Upton beat out his RBI infield single to trim the Angels' lead to 2-1. Upton was called out when Meals ruled he turned toward second and was tagged out by second baseman Howie Kendrick.

Replays showed Upton, who hit a high chopper to first baseman Mark Teixeira, contorted his body to avoid a potential tag by Santana, who was covering first. However, it did not appear Upton, in the spotlight lately for a lack of hustle, turned toward second before being tagged by Kendrick, who was backing up the play.

• Red Sox 7, Orioles 2: At Baltimore, Daisuke Matsuzaka won his fourth straight start despite struggling through five innings, and Boston got homers from Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis.

Matsuzaka (15-2) gave up two runs, six hits and five walks. He stranded nine runners, five in scoring position.

Varitek's second homer in two games put Boston up 3-0 in the second. He added an RBI double in the fifth after Youkilis hit his 24th homer with a man on. The three RBIs matched a season high for Varitek, and it was only the fifth time in his last 58 games he got more than one hit.

Youkilis added an RBI single in the eighth to cap a three-hit, three-RBI night.

Daniel Cabrera (8-8) allowed six runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings and is 2-11 with a 7.13 ERA in 16 career starts against Boston.

• Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1: At Toronto, New York center fielder Johnny Damon allowed two balls to glance off his glove, including an eighth-inning drive by Marco Scutaro that became the go-ahead double for Toronto.

A.J. Burnett (16-9) allowed one run and five hits in eight innings and has won seven straight home starts. He struck out a season-high 13 and earned a win in his sixth straight start.

With the score tied 1-all in the eighth, Joe Inglett hit a two-out single to center off Jose Veras (3-2). Scutaro followed with a deep drive to center. Damon settled under the ball on the warning track, but it ticked off his glove and the wall, allowing Inglett to score. Damon, who was playing in center for just the 10th time this season, dropped Alex Rios' fly ball in the first and was charged with a two-base error.

• Indians 9, Royals 4: At Cleveland, Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer for Cleveland.

Sizemore connected on the first pitch he saw from reliever Leo Nunez for his 28th homer that made it 7-3 in the sixth. The All-Star center fielder had gone 0-for-3 to extend his slump to 10-for-61 (.164) before hitting his first homer since July 31.

Nunez came on after starter Luke Hochevar (6-12) left with a team trainer as he was warming up for the sixth. The Royals listed the right-hander as day-to-day with tightness in his right ribcage.

• White Sox 5, Mariners 0: At Chicago, Clayton Richard pitched six innings for his first major league win, and Nick Swisher and Jim Thome homered for Chicago.

• Twins 13, Athletics 2: At Minneapolis, Kevin Slowey had a career-high 12 strikeouts and Brian Buscher matched his career best with five RBIs for Minnesota.

• Tigers 11, Rangers 3: At Arlington, Texas, Matt Joyce homered twice, including a three-run shot in Detroit's nine-run seventh inning, and Armando Galarraga beat his former team.