ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Willy Aybar's RBI singled triggered a three-run fifth inning Friday and the Tampa Bay Rays moved into first place in the AL East with a 5-3 win over Seattle.
Aybar's hit scored B.J. Upton to break a 2-2 tie and Rays went on to get two more runs in the big inning.
Four Tampa Bay relievers then made the lead hold up, combining for 3 1/3 shutout innings and vaulting the Rays a half game ahead of the New York Yankees, who lost to Boston 10-8 Friday.
The Rays cut their magic number to three to clinch at least a wild-card playoff spot.
Jeff Niemann (11-7) got the win, tossing 5 2/3 innings in which he yielded three runs on seven hits. Rafael Soriano notched his 44th save with a scoreless ninth to nail down the key victory.
Jason Vargas (9-12) surrendered five runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings for the Mariners.
Adam Moore had two hits and a pair of RBI and Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-5 to give him 202 hits for the year. Suzuki has had at least 200 hits in each of his 10 major league seasons.
