BALTIMORE -- The Tampa Bay Rays are doing a good job of creating some separation between themselves and the Baltimore Orioles, while at the same time tracking down the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Even though its not September yet, the Rays dont intend to wait around to make their run at the top. Alex Cobb took a two-hitter into the seventh inning, Matt Joyce drove in three runs and Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 7-4 Tuesday night for its sixth win in seven games. Wil Myers had two hits and two RBIs for the Rays, who are percentage points ahead of Boston in the AL East after the Red Sox lost to the Giants later Tuesday night. Tampa Bay has won the first two games of this series between AL East rivals and can complete a sweep Wednesday night. "Its very big for where were at in the division and the fact were chasing the Red Sox a little bit and also trying to create some distance, because we know the Os and the Yankees are very capable and very tough competitors," said Ben Zobrist, who had two hits and an RBI. "We dont anticipate it being any sort of easy road to the end of September and weve got to battle. This is two great wins for us to start off." The Orioles, on the other hand, have lost six of eight and are in danger of being overtaken by the surging Yankees. "Its not the position we would prefer to find ourselves in after the first two games of the series, thats for sure, but theres still plenty of baseball left for us to make up some ground," said Nate McLouth, who went 0 for 5. "Its not ideal at all, but we wont let this game affect (Wednesdays) game." Cobb (8-2) was making his second start since being hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer on June 15. The right-hander allowed two runs, one earned, three hits and four walks in six-plus innings to win his fifth straight decision. "The curveball really helped me out early on," Cobb said. "My changeup started working a little bit so I established that I was going to throw in and out with the fastball early and I got them to expand the zone a few times with my off-speed pitches." Cobb left after Baltimore used two walks and a single to load the bases with no outs in the seventh. Alex Torres got Brian Roberts to hit into a run-scoring double play before striking out McLouth to keep the Rays ahead 3-2. "They brought in that lefty with that really good changeup to come in and do exactly what he did and thats why theyre such a tough team," McLouth said. "Because they can make life pretty tough on you." Joyce doubled in two runs in the ninth off T.J. McFarland and Myers added a broken-bat, two-run single off Jim Johnson. Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer in the bottom half before Fernando Rodney entered and got three outs for his 29th save. Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez (8-6) gave up three runs, two earned, eight hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander is 0-3 in five starts since July 20. One night after getting 15 hits in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay, Baltimore managed only five hits, four of them singles. "We didnt get any hits. Thats obvious," manager Buck Showalter said. "If you want to look for a reason, I personally look at Cobb, who was tough. We didnt do much off him tonight. I think that was it in a nutshell." The Rays have won seven of eight against the Orioles to take an 8-5 lead in the season series. The two teams with the fewest errors in the majors each gave up an unearned run in the second inning. In the top half, Joyce walked, advanced on an errant pickoff throw by Gonzalez and scored on a two-out bloop by Yunel Escobar. Baltimore tied it when Evan Longoria muffed a grounder and Flaherty singled in a run with two outs. Tampa Bay went up 3-1 in the third. After Desmond Jennings walked and scored on a double by Zobrist, Longoria singled and Joyce delivered a sacrifice fly. Gonzalez worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by getting James Loney to bounce into a double play. NOTES: Zobrist moved into a fifth-place tie with B.J. Upton on the teams career RBI list with 447. Aubrey Huff is in fourth with 449. ... Jeremy Hellickson, whos 8-3 lifetime against Baltimore, starts for Tampa Bay in the series finale Wednesday night. LH Wei-Yin Chen will pitch for Baltimore. ... The Orioles had won five straight over the Rays with Gonzalez as the starter. ... McLouth is hitless in his last 17 at-bats. Pat Swilling Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. New Orleans Saints Store . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. https://www.saintsjerseyssale.com/2493f-a-j-klein-jersey-saints.html . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. J. T. Gray Jersey . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Carl Granderson Jersey . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys signed free agent quarterback Jerrod Johnson to give them an option behind Jameill Showers for the final preseason game against Houston.Dallas signed Johnson before Thursday nights game.With Tony Romo sidelined by a back injury and rookie Dak Prescott sitting the preseason finale as is customary for most starters, Showers was the only healthy Dallas quarterback scheduled to play against the Texans before the addition of Johnson.The former Texas A&M quarterback has spent time with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Chicago before getting waived earlier this week by Baltimore.dddddddddddd The 28-year-old Johnson has never taken a snap in a regular-season game.The Cowboys waived long snapper Zach Wood to make room for Johnson.---Online:AP NFL websites: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '