ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rookie David Price is one of the reasons the Tampa Bay Rays like their chances of getting back to the playoffs.

The 23-year-old left-hander extended Boston's woes at Tropicana Field last night, pitching six strong innings in a 6-4 victory that finished a two-game sweep of the Red Sox and tightened the AL wild-card race.

"We never felt out of it," Price said. "A lot of people counted us out, but nobody in here did."

Facing the Red Sox for the first time since getting the last four outs of last season's AL Championship Series, Price (5-4) allowed two runs and six hits to improve to 5-1 with a 2.72 ERA at home compared to 0-3 with an 8.20 ERA on the road.

Price struck out five and walked none.

Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, Pat Burrell and Jason Bartlett homered for the Rays, who have won 13 of 15 regular-season meetings between the teams at Tropicana Field since the start of 2008.

"They're a good team. I don't think it's this place," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "It's who we're playing. They play us very tough."

Jason Bay and Victor Martinez hit solo homers off Price for Boston, which fell 2 1/2 games behind AL East-leading New York .

With the sweep, the third-place Rays are 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

YANKEES 8, BLUE JAYS 4:

Johnny Damon hit a solo home run and had three RBIs, Nick Swisher also connected and visiting New York completed a two-game sweep. Alfredo Aceves (7-1) pitched two innings for the victory as the Yankees used a four-run seventh inning to win their third straight.

INDIANS 8, TWINS 1:

Aaron Laffey rebounded from one of his worst performances to pitch a career-high eight innings for host Cleveland. Laffey (5-3) gave up one unearned run on six hits, striking out five and walking one. On July 29, he was tagged for seven runs in four innings in a 9-3 loss to the Angels.

TIGERS 4, ORIOLES 2:

Edwin Jackson took a shutout into the ninth inning, Magglio Ordonez homered and host Detroit beat Baltimore. Jackson (8-5) allowed two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out eight. He has allowed two runs in 16 innings over two starts against Baltimore this season.

WHITE SOX 6, ANGELS 2:

Jim Thome homered twice, giving him 561 for his career, and Gavin Floyd pitched into the ninth as host Chicago won for the fifth time in six games. Floyd (9-6), who was aided by three double plays, allowed six hits and two runs in eight-plus innings.

MARINERS 11, ROYALS 6:

Ichiro Suzuki had his major league-leading 52nd multihit game, and Russell Branyan and Jose Lopez drove in three runs apiece to lead visiting Seattle. Everyone in the Seattle lineup had a hit and only two failed to score.

ATHLETICS 7, RANGERS 5:

Adam Kennedy hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning, helping host Oakland beat Texas for the third straight time. Scott Hairston, Maui's Kurt Suzuki and Chad Pennington also homered for the A's.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

GIANTS 10, ASTROS 6:

Joe Martinez came off the disabled list to win his first major league start and Eli Whiteside hit a grand slam for his first career home run, leading host San Francisco to victory. Martinez (2-0) pitched in the majors for the first time since he was struck in the head by a line drive from Milwaukee's Mike Cameron on April 9.

NATIONALS 5, MARLINS 4:

Cristian Guzman fell a home run shy of the cycle, Adam Dunn homered in his third straight game and host Washington tied a season high with its fourth straight win. Ryan Zimmerman and Ronnie Belliard also connected for the Nationals, who improved to 10-6 under interim manager Jim Riggleman.

REDS 4, CUBS 0:

Scott Rolen returned from a beaning that left him sore and blurry for two days, then hit a two-run homer on his first swing to help host Cincinnati snap an eight-game losing streak. Justin Lehr (1-0) limited the Cubs to four hits in his first complete game.

METS 9, CARDINALS 0:

Nelson Figueroa pitched 4 1/3 innings and boosted the offense with a two-run triple after Jonathon Niese got hurt, leading host New York to victory. Figueroa (1-2) allowed four hits in his first major league win since Sept. 1 at Milwaukee.

PHILLIES 7, ROCKIES 0:

J.A. Happ struck out a career-high 10 in his second shutout of the season, leading host Philadelphia over Colorado. Happ (8-2) tossed a four-hitter. Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz all homered.

DIAMONDBACKS 4, PIRATES 3:

Stephen Drew hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning for visiting Arizona. The Diamondbacks' Ryan Roberts homered for the third time in two games.

BREWERS 4, DODGERS 1:

Braden Looper pitched 6 2/3 solid innings, Prince Fielder had a tying RBI groundout and host Milwaukee beat Los Angeles. Looper (10-5) allowed a run and four hits.

BRAVES 6, PADRES 2:

Tommy Hanson pitched six solid innings to lead visiting Atlanta to victory. Hanson (6-2) gave up two runs and five hits. Atlanta's 14 hits were all singles.