TORONTO — Carlos Pena hit two two-run homers, giving him 200 for his career, James Shields pitched 6 2-3 innings for the win and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Tuesday night.
Pena went 2 for 5 with four RBIs in his fourth multihomer game of the season. He has more home runs (37) than singles (35).
Pena has hit six homers in five games and 11 in 17. He's batting .455 (10 for 22) over his current seven-game hitting streak.
The Rays, who remained three games behind Boston for the AL wild card, have won eight of 10.
Toronto (57-67) has lost 10 of 13 and is a season-low 10 games below .500.
Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett went 3 for 5, raising his average to .346. Bartlett is third in the AL in hitting behind Minnesota's Joe Mauer and Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki.
Shields (8-10), who had lost four of five starts, allowed three runs and eight hits. He walked two and struck out five.
Randy Choate pitched 2-3 of an inning, Chad Bradford and Brian Shouse each got one out and Dan Wheeler worked the ninth for the Rays, who are 11-3 against the Blue Jays.
Toronto took the lead in the first when Marco Scutaro singled, stole second and scored when Adam Lind singled through a drawn-in infield.
Pena put the Rays in front in the second with a two-run drive into the second deck in right off rookie left-hander Brett Cecil (5-3).
The Rays added four more off Cecil in the third. Pat Burrell hit a two-run single and Pena followed with a second smash even deeper into the second deck in right.
Cecil lost his second straight start, the first time this season he has dropped consecutive outings. He allowed six runs, five earned, and six hits in 3 1-3 innings, walked three and struck out three.
Rays outfielder Gabe Gross made it 7-2 with an RBI single off Josh Roenicke in the fifth.
Toronto rookie Travis Snider cut it to 7-3 with a homer off the center field restaurant on Shields' first pitch of the seventh. The homer was Snider's second in three games.
Snider had the defensive highlight, crashing into the right field wall after making a running catch of Gabe Kapler's liner in the second.
NOTES: Rays OF Carl Crawford (sore lower back) was held out of the lineup and is unlikely to play Wednesday, manager Joe Maddon said. Crawford left Monday's game after three innings. The Rays are off Thursday and open a four-game series at Detroit on Friday. ... Tampa Bay is 23-23 when facing left-handed starters. ... Rays Double-A LHP Darin Downs, who suffered a fractured skull when he was hit by a line drive Aug. 17, remains in the hospital but is improving, a team spokesman said. Downs' status will be reevaluated Wednesday.