Shields came within one out of his 12th complete game, yielding six hits. Kyle Farnsworth finished for his 24th save, closing it out moments before the Red Sox lost 6-3 at Baltimore. The Rays and Red Sox each have two games left.

B.J. Upton drove in two runs with a third-inning double off Hector Noesi. Kelly Shoppach homered for the second straight day for the Rays, who’ve won three straight and are 15-8 since Sept. 2, when they trailed Boston by nine games. Johnny Damon’s third-inning RBI single moved him into a tie with Lou Gehrig for 57th on the career hits list with 2,721.

In Baltimore, the Boston Red Sox found another way to lose, this time on a broken-bat single and an inside-the-park homer, and their defeat against the Orioles dropped them into a tie in the AL wild-card race.

Boston’s 17th loss in 22 games enabled Tampa Bay to finally pull even in the duel for the league’s final playoff spot. The Rays, who beat the New York Yankees 5-2, trailed by nine games after play on Sept. 3.

With the score 2-all in the sixth inning, Boston starter Josh Beckett (13-7) allowed four runs in an uprising that began with Vladimir Guerrero becoming the career hits leader among Dominican-born players.

In Detroit, Doug Fister pitched eight strong innings and Alex Avila drove in three runs to help the Tigers beat the Indians.

Justin Verlander and Fister, who are scheduled to start the first two games of Detroit’s first-round playoff series, are now a combined 14-0 with a 1.61 ERA in 16 appearances since August 16.

Fister, who allowed three singles while striking out nine, has been even better than the Cy Young favorite in the stretch, going 7-0 with a 0.65 ERA in his last eight outings.

In what turned out to be manager Ozzie Guillen’s last game with the White Sox, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer, rookie Dylan Axelrod threw six shutout innings and Chicago beat the Blue Jays in Chicago.

Guillen was released from his contract after the game to pursue other opportunities. He met with owner Jerry Reinsdorf for about 30 minutes earlier in the day. Guillen told the owner he would like to return, but only for a contract extension for more money. He had one year remaining on his current deal.

Axelrod (1-0) won his first big-league game, striking out six and holding Toronto to three hits. Sergio Santos picked up his 30th save.

In Anaheim, California, Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer, Michael Young added an eighth-inning RBI single, and the Rangers eliminated the Angels from the playoff race.

Elvis Andrus had four hits for the AL West champion Rangers (94-66), who have won eight of nine. Texas also stayed one game ahead of Detroit (93-67) for the league’s second-best record and homefield advantage in this weekend’s division series.

Peter Bourjos had a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Angels, who began the night three games behind the wild card-leading Red Sox with three to play.

In Minneapolis, Melky Cabrera became the first Kansas City player in 11 years to get 200 hits and Mike Moustakas hit the go-ahead home run in a four-run sixth inning as the Royals topped the Twins.

Cabrera, who hit an infield single and scored the game’s opening run in the first inning and added another infield single in the sixth, became the sixth player in Kansas City history to eclipse 200 hits and the first since Johnny Damon and Mike Sweeney both did it in 2000.

In Seattle, Justin Smoak hit a three-run, tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning to lift the Mariners to a victory over the Athletics.

The victory gave Jason Vargas (10-13) his career-high 10th victory. He worked eight innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking none and striking out career-high 10.

Miguel Olivo also hit a solo home run in the fifth, his 19th. That broke the Mariners club record for most home runs by a catcher, one more than both Kenji Johjima and Dan Wilson.