ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There's no secret to the success of the Tampa Bay Rays this season. Good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting carried them to the top of the AL East standings.

The same winning combination is keeping them there.

Evan Longoria went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs and B.J. Upton made a "Willie Mays-esque" catch in center field to help an improved bullpen hold off Boston, 7-6, last night for Tampa Bay's second three-game sweep of the World Series champions this season.

"It's a really good feeling. I can't tell you that I expected it — I'd be lying — but right now ... we do expect to win on a nightly basis," manager Joe Maddon said after the Rays improved the best record in baseball to 52-32.

They did it last night by rallying from a three-run deficit in the seventh inning, extending their lead in the division to a franchise-best 3 1/2 games over the second-place Red Sox, who matched a season high with their fifth consecutive loss.

Tampa Bay is 6-0 at home against Boston, which has swept a pair of three-game series from the Rays at Fenway Park.

"It reaffirms to us that we can play against these guys and we can beat the Red Sox," Maddon said. "Now we have to prove that we can beat them in Fenway Park also."

Longoria had an RBI single off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the first inning, and his two-run double off Craig Hansen (1-3) was the big blow in a six-run seventh.

Jason Bartlett also had a two-run single in the seventh, making it 7-4 before a crowd of 36,048, the Rays' fourth sellout of the season and just the 12th in the club's 11 seasons.

Gary Glover, the third of four Tampa Bay pitchers, allowed one run in 1 2/3 innings for the win.

The Red Sox made it interesting in the ninth, pulling to 7-6 on Kevin Youkilis' sacrifice fly, which Upton ran down to make the catch on the warning track with his back to the plate.

"I actually had no idea where the wall was. The only thing on my mind was catching that ball," Upton said. "I didn't think it was hit that well. ... It just kept going and going, and I stayed with it."

Maddon called the catch, robbing Youkilis of an extra-base hit and maybe preventing the tying run from scoring: "Magnificent. ... Willie Mays-esque."

Boston still had a chance, though, until Mike Lowell was caught stealing second when Jason Varitek swung and missed on a hit-and-run play.

Dan Wheeler then struck out Varitek for his third save in as many opportunities.

YANKEES 18, RANGERS 7

Jason Giambi hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high six runs and Alex Rodriguez added a three-run shot, moving past Jimmie Foxx for 14th on the career home run list with 535, as host New York routed Texas to avoid a three-game series sweep.

WHITE SOX 6, INDIANS 5

A.J. Pierzynski led off the bottom of 10th with his second homer of the game, driving the first pitch from Masa Kobayashi (4-4) for his seventh of the season, as Chicago beat Cleveland for its seventh straight victory.

TWINS 7, TIGERS 0

Nick Blackburn (7-4) allowed three hits in seven innings with two relievers finishing the five-hitter, and Joe Mauer's two-out, two-run single sparked a five-run bottom of the third inning as Minnesota took two of three from Detroit.

ANGELS 7, ATHLETICS 4

Joe Saunders (12-4) allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings to match Arizona's Brandon Webb for the major league lead with his 12th win, and Juan Rivera and Eric Aybar hit homers to lead host Los Angeles over Oakland.

ORIOLES 5, ROYALS 2

Daniel Cabrera (6-4) gave up seven hits for his second complete game of the season and his first victory since May 20, Ramon Hernandez had three hits and Aubrey Huff homered as host Baltimore improved to 5-2 against Kansas City to clinch the season series for a fifth consecutive year.

MARINERS 4, BLUE JAYS 2

Miguel Cairo drove in three runs with two doubles, his second a two-run gapper into left-center field that broke a 2-all tie, and Jarrod Washburn (4-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings to help host Seattle beat Toronto.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PHILLIES 7, BRAVES 3

Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer, Pat Burrell added a solo shot and closer Brad Lidge struck out Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded in the ninth to end the game as visiting Philadelphia improved to 5-0 in Atlanta this season and 7-1 overall in the season series.

MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 2

Trailing 2-1 when the game was halted with one on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh for 1 hour, 35 minutes, Alfredo Amezaga hit a two-run homer — his 11th in 1,106 career at-bats — when play resumed off Charlie Manning (0-2) to rally Florida past Washington.

PIRATES 9, REDS 5

Xavier Nady had a run-scoring single, a solo homer and a two-run shot to lead visiting Pittsburgh, which lost closer Matt Capps for about eight weeks after a medical test detected bursitis and tightness in his pitching shoulder.

DODGERS 4, ASTROS 1

Hiroki Kuroda (4-6) spaced five hits over seven shutout innings in his first start since going on the DL on June 18 with tendinitis in his right shoulder and Jeff Kent had two RBI doubles to lead visiting Los Angeles past Houston.

ROCKIES 8, PADRES 1

Garrett Atkins, Troy Tulowitzki and Yorvit Torrealba hit homers in support of Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8), who allowed one run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings, and host Colorado scored seven runs in the first three innings against Randy Wolf (5-8) to beat San Diego.

BREWERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3

Mike Cameron singled home Russell Branyan with one out in the top of the ninth, his second run-scoring hit of the game, as Milwaukee rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Arizona for its second straight win.

CARDINALS 8, METS 7

Pinch-hitter Chris Duncan's two-run shot tied it in the bottom of the eighth, Ryan Franklin (3-2) worked a perfect ninth and Troy Glaus hit his second homer of the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to lift St. Louis over New York.

CUBS 6, GIANTS 5

Carlos Marmol (2-3) picked up the win for Chicago despite giving up a tying three-run homer to Ray Durham in the seventh. Mike Fontenot hit a one-out solo homer off Tyler Walker (3-4) in the top of the eighth to help beat San Francisco.