MLB: Baltimore 8, Tampa Bay 7

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Brian Roberts hit a grand slam in the sixth and Nolan Reimold had a three-run shot one inning later Thursday, lifting Baltimore to an 8-7 win over Tampa Bay.

Reimold's homer gave the Orioles an 8-4 cushion and they barely held onto the lead to salvage the final contest in the three-game series and avoid a sweep.

The Rays had a four-game winning streak snapped and fell four games behind Boston in the American League wild-card race. Baltimore had lost its previous five games.

Tampa Bay closed within one run with a three-run eighth -- two of the runs scoring on a broken-bat bloop to left by Carlos Pena.

The Rays then put the potential tying run on third with two out in the ninth, but Jim Johnson struck out Evan Longoria to end the game and collect his fifth save.

He preserved the win for Brian Matusz (2-2), who allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings.

James Shields (7-10) took the loss, giving up four runs, just one of them earned, on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.