The Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 Tuesday to force the AL East race to the final day. The highlight of the day was brilliant was Chris Davis' sixth homer in his sixth-straight game.
Davis hit a sixth consecutive homer, helping the Orioles overcome the club record set by James Shield, the Rays pitcher who had as many as 15 strikeouts in the game.
Baltimore started the game one game behind the Yankees who beat the Red Sox 4-3 in a thriller to maintain the top spot in the AL East. The Orioles who are already in the playoffs need a win on Wednesday and a loss for the Yankees for a one game tiebreaker between them to decide the winner of the division title.
"We're not supposed to be here," closer Jim Johnson said. "So just go out and have fun and see what happens. You have to win those games. If you're able to keep it close, you just try to find a way."
Miguel Gonzalez (9-4), the Orioles rookie, played well limiting Tampa Bay to two singles over 6 and 1-3 innings.
Chris Davis and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson are the only players to homer in six games consecutively. He connected off Shields (15-10) in the fourth inning to score the only run of the game.
"I hung a changeup. He's a pretty good hitter," Shields said of the home run. "I think that was probably the farthest home run I've ever given up in my career.
"I sent the bat boy over and told him to tell him, 'Can you hit it any farther?' Just joking around a little bit. He said something like, 'I'm sorry. I'll go and try and hit it 480 feet next time.' I thought that was pretty funny."
This is the fifth occasion that the Rays have lost 1-0 since August 5. They have lost twice to the Orioles by this margin. The Orioles on the other hand have made it to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
The Rays had won the opening game against the Orioles on Monday and had a slim chance of getting the second AL wild card spot. However, they were eliminated when the Athletics beat the Rangers.
Shields played very impressively for Tampa Bay. He retired 11 in a row prior to giving up Davis' 33rd homer.
"I knew this was my last game and I wanted to let it all hang out," he added. "I wanted to end on a good note, end on a bang. That was probably the best game of my career."
Meanwhile Davis said about equaling Reggie Jackson's record: "It kind of blows my mind to even be mentioned in the same breath as Reggie, but it's more about the win than anything else.
"I'm kind of glad to be the guy that's coming through in this situation, but as long as we get the win I don't care."
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