Running out of time to make up ground in the AL playoff race, the Tampa Bay Rays turn to youngster Alex Cobb for Mondays opener of a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox. The Rays did themselves no favors last week, going just 1-5 on a six-game road trip against the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. Instead of tightening things up in the standings, the Rays now sit five games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East and four back of the Orioles for the leagues second wild card spot. Tampa Bay dropped the rubber match of its series with New York on Sunday as Matt Moore lasted just three innings in a 6-4 loss. He gave up five runs on three hits and four walks in the shortest outing of his career. "In the first and second inning I felt really good and I liked our chances from there. That third inning was just atrocious," Moore said after yielding five runs in the aforementioned third frame. Cobb has gone 9-8 with a 4.26 earned run average through 20 starts this season and is undefeated over his last eight outings. He is 5-0 in that span and the Rays won each of the first seven games of that run before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Orioles on Wednesday. The 24-year-old righty yielded two runs and struck out six over just 4 2/3 innings of a no-decision. Cobb faced Boston for the first time in his career on May 25 and earned a win, giving up one earned run in five innings of work. While the Rays are still fighting for a playoff spot, the Red Sox are looking to avoid their first last-place finish in the division since 1992. Boston fell a game behind Toronto for that spot with a 5-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday. The loss gave the Red Sox a 66-81 record on the season, securing their first non-winning campaign since a 78-84 finish in 1997. Jon Lester allowed three runs over seven innings and struck out seven in Sundays loss, which denied Boston a three-game sweep. "I have to keep looking at the positives and keep plugging away," Lester said. There havent been many positives as of late for Aaron Cook, who tries to avoid a sixth straight losing decision tonight for Boston. Cook has lost nine of his last 10 decisions and has a 6.00 ERA over his current winless drought, which spans six starts. The righty hasnt won since Aug. 6 and pitched five-plus innings versus the Yankees on Wednesday, yielding three runs on seven hits and two homers. The righty is 3-10 with a 5.18 ERA in 15 starts this season and 1-1 with a 6.63 ERA in three lifetime encounters with the Rays. Tonight will mark the first time this season that the 33-year-old Cook will face the club. Boston is 7-5 versus Tampa Bay this season. Tillman set for return as Orioles begin set with Ms The Baltimore Orioles couldnt have picked a better opponent for Chris Tillman to face in his return to action. The youngster tries to remain undefeated in his career versus the Seattle Mariners on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series. Tillman hasnt pitched since exiting a Sept. 2 start versus the New York Yankees after just three innings because of right elbow discomfort. He gave up two runs on two hits and a pair of walks prior to his exit, getting a no- decision. The righty has won six of his past seven decisions and hasnt lost since Aug. 11, going 7-2 with a 3.39 earned run average in 11 starts. Tillman threw a side session on Thursday and is ready to go tonight. The 24- year-old will look to continue his career-long success against the Mariners, who he is 3-0 against in three starts while giving up two earned runs over 21 2/3 innings for a 0.83 ERA with 17 strikeouts. Baltimore could use another dominating performance out of Tillman as it continues its push for first place in the AL East. The Orioles remained a game behind the New York Yankees for that spot following Sundays 9-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics. The Os can make up some ground tonight as the Yankees are idle. Baltimore also leads the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 2 1/2 games for the ALs second wild card spot. Matt Wieters hit two solo homers and Endy Chavez went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored on Sunday for the Orioles, who avoided a three-game sweep and clinched their first winning season since 1997. "Every game right now is a must-win," Wieters said. "This is a tough place to play. To be able to get one, well take it." Seattle, meanwhile, has lost six of its past nine and is coming off a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Justin Smoak hit a homer in the eighth and Blake Beavan took the hard-luck loss, yielding two runs over seven innings. "We took it all the way to the end ... but they got the last out," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. Wedge will give Hector Noesi his first start since July 4, when the righty was beaten by the Orioles after giving up four runs over five innings in his first career start against them. He fell to 2-11 on the season with that loss and was sent to the minors. The 25-year-old righty returned to the Mariners in September and has pitched twice in relief, giving up two hits and two walks over four innings. He holds a 5.54 ERA in 19 total appearances this season and has not won since May 6. The Orioles are 9-3 against the Mariners over the past two seasons with a current five-game win streak in the series. wholesale jerseys .C. -- Forbes annual ranking of Americas Most Influential Athlete has placed NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson at the top of the list for the second consecutive year. cheap nfl jerseys ... 1. What on earth is wrong with Greece? For a team that conceded just five goals in 10 qualifying games, Greece have been woefully inept defensively in this tournament. http://www.comcheapjerseys.com/ . -- The first call that Andy Reid received came from Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt. cheap jerseys . And Monday night in St. Paul, he did it in style. Rusch pitched 7.1 innings, allowing no runs on just four hits as the Goldeyes shutout the St. jerseys from china . He could have fooled anyone. While Luck acknowledged that he was still trying to get acclimated to a new playbook, a new locker room and new teammates, those who watched closely on Friday said the new Indianapolis Colts quarterback looked a whole lot like the one they remembered at Stanford.LONDON -- Fernando Torres scored his second double of the week as Chelseas search for an English Premier League win under Rafa Benitez ended at Sunderland on Saturday Also, Mikel Artetas pair of penalties secured Arsenals victory over highflying West Bromwich Albion. Chelseas 3-1 win at Sunderland halted a seven-game winless run in the league -- three under Benitez. Torres, who scored twice in midweek as the holders exited the Champions League, scored his first domestic goals in two months at Sunderland and then set up Juan Mata after the break. "We are watching now a Fernando with more confidence and with more belief, and at the same time, the team is the same way," Benitez said. "I was analyzing his movement before and we were adjusting little things. Its a question of confidence and just little different movement." Chelsea remains third but went seven points behind leader Manchester United, which is at second-place Manchester City on Sunday. Arsenal rose from 10th to sixth after Arteta scored twice from the spot in a 2-0 victory over fifth-place West Brom. Queens Park Rangers remains stuck at the bottom without a win after being held to a 2-2 draw at Wigan. But Southampton climbed out of the relegation zone by beating Reading 1-0. Reading was joined by Sunderland in the drop zone after the northeast side helped Chelsea to bounce back from its European setback. Unlike Torres goals against FC Nordsjaelland, which couldnt help Chelsea progress in the Champions League, his double on Saturday were crucial. The Spain striker volleyed the ball into the net with the studs of his boot in the 11th minute at Sunderland. And he converted his first penalty kick in English football on the stroke of halftime after Seb Larsson had fouled Ramires as the ball was just about to go out for a goal kick. Torres had seven goals in 21 matches in all competitions this season under Roberto Di Matteo, but has now scored four in five games under Benitez, his former manager at Liverpool who replaced the Italian last month. "If the team plays well and creates chances, Fernando will score goals," Benitez said. Chelsea now heads to the Club World Cup in Japan for the next week. "Its always important to win, but especially if you are goiing to a tournament like this," Benitez said.dddddddddddd At Emirates Stadium, Arsenal halted a three-game run without a win after fortuitously being awarded the first penalty, which Arteta converted in the 26th. Santi Cazorla went down lightly under Steven Reids challenge when his shin only appeared to be clipped slightly. West Brom manager Steve Clarke said there was "zero contact." "Im not sure what the referee saw but it was a bad decision for us," he said. "It changed the shape of the afternoon." Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his player told him there was contact. "Im sorry if it wasnt a penalty, but I have spoken to Santi and he said he had been touched and lost his balance," Wenger said. No one disputed Artetas second penalty in the 64th after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was brought down by Chris Brunt. "Im proud of the victory today because its important for our season when our backs are to the wall, because our spirit has been questioned because of the flat performance last week," Wenger said. Swansea, Arsenals conquerors last weekend, lost for the first time in six weeks on Saturday as Norwich won 4-3 in south Wales. Now unbeaten in nine matches, Norwich raced to a 3-0 lead by halftime after goals from Steven Whittaker, Sebastien Bassong and Grant Holt. Swansea staged a comeback with goals from Michu and Jonathan De Guzman, but Robert Snodgrass free kick for Norwich ensured Michus late second couldnt rescue a point for the hosts. At Wigan, QPR briefly looked to be on course for its first win of the season when Djibril Cisse put the visitors in front in the 71st after teammate Ryan Nelsen had cancelled out James McCarthys opener. But McCarthy was on target again in the 74th to clinch a draw, keeping QPR bottom and leaving Wigan just a place and two points clear of danger. Southampton moved past Wigan on goal difference after Jason Puncheons second-half goal secured victory over Reading. Aston Villa is between between Wigan and Southampton after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Stoke. The visitors had defender Ryan Shotton sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence, but replays appeared to show he made no contact on Villa substitute Fabian Delph. ' ' '