ANAHEIM, Calif. - James Shields and the Tampa Bay Rays caught Jered Weaver on an off night. B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist made the Los Angeles Angels ace pay for his mistakes. Upton went 4 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs, Zobrist and Jose Molina also homered and the Rays battered Weaver for a career-worst nine earned runs in a 12-3 victory Friday. "Weavers a good pitcher and hes been pitching really, really well all season long," Shields said. "I know as well as anybody that sometimes youre going to have bad days, and tonight our team did a great job of getting to him early." Shields (11-7) allowed three runs, seven hits and no walks in six innings while striking out eight, helping the Rays maintain a one-game lead over Detroit and Baltimore in the AL wild-card race. The Orioles lost to the Tigers after starting the day tied with Tampa Bay. Shields, the subject of trade rumours before the non-waiver deadline on July 31, is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four starts since. The 30-year-old right-hander was 1-3 with a 6.15 ERA in a seven-start stretch before the deadline passed. "The only difference is the numbers," Shields said. "I mean, Ive been pitching the same way and Ive taken the same approach in every single game. So I dont think its more relaxing now — because were fighting for the wild card and fighting for the AL East, so we have to win every game." Upton had a different take on Shields turnaround. "I know how going through that trade deadline thing is because Ive dealt with it the last couple of years," he said. "So I think with that phase of the season being over and him still being here, Im sure its taken a little bit of pressure off of him." Weaver (15-3) had his shortest outing of the season, giving up eight hits and two walks in three-plus innings — including Zobrists 14th homer and Uptons 15th. It was the sixth time the three-time All-Star allowed multiple homers in back-to-back starts during his seven-year career. Seattles Jesus Montero went deep twice against him last Sunday in the Mariners 4-1 victory. "There are going to be times when stuff like this happens, but its obviously not a good time of the year for it to happen," Weaver said. "My fastball command wasnt good. The only thing that was really good was my changeup, but I cant throw that every pitch. It was just one of those weird nights. Everything they were hitting was finding holes and finding gaps, so what are you going to do? Obviously its disappointing, but you cant dwell on it." Upton hit a first-pitch homer into the left-field bullpen with one out in the first and Zobrist led off the second with a drive into the elevated seats in right-centre, marking the third time this season that Weaver allowed more than one home run in an outing. Weaver, who came in with a chance to tie Tampa Bays David Price for the major league lead in wins, faced eight batters and threw 24 pitches in the fourth inning without recording an out. Sean Rodriguez and Ryan Roberts had RBI singles, Molina followed with a two-run single and Desmond Jennings chased Weaver with an RBI double. Upton greeted LaTroy Hawkins with a two-run single that extended Tampa Bays lead to 9-1. "I kind of took it easy in the bullpen before the game, just trying to locate, but my secondary pitches werent sharp, and I knew that coming in," Weaver said. "When you dont have anything coming off your fastball, its going to be a long night. I couldnt miss any bats. I tried to battle as much as possible, but it obviously caught up with me there in the fourth." Molina, who spent seven seasons as a backup catcher with the Angels and was a member of their only World Series championship club in 2002, hit his fourth homer in the eighth against Jason Isringhausen. The Angels, shut out in each of their previous three games against the Rays, finally ended their string of 34 consecutive scoreless innings against Tampa Bay with Erick Aybars leadoff homer in the third. Howie Kendrick added a two-run homer in the fourth. "I didnt even know anything about that streak. We were just trying to put runs on the board," Kendrick said. "Theyve got a good staff. Theyve got guys that go out and pound the strike zone and get outs when they need to. They also play in a division where theyve got to have great pitching. It seems like every time we face them they come out and throw well against us." NOTES: Weaver lost only one of his first 16 decisions, a 13-6 rout by the Texas Rangers in which he gave up eight earned runs. He came in with a major league-best 2.54 home ERA since the start of his 2006 rookie season. ... Angels RHP Dan Haren, who hasnt gotten out of the fourth inning in his last two starts, will be skipped in the rotation next week with the team having a travel day before its six-game trip to Boston and Detroit. The three-time All-Star gave up 10 earned runs and 12 hits in losses to the Rays and Mariners. ... J.P. Howell extended his scoreless streak to 23 2-3 innings with a perfect ninth, surpassing the franchise record of 23 that Shields set in 2011. ... The Rays lead the season series 7-1 with two games remaining. They have held Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo to a combined .200 average with one home run and five RBIs. ... Weaver, whose next scheduled outing will be against Boston at Fenway Park, hasnt lost three consecutive starts since dropping four in a row in May 2011. ... The Angels are expecting relievers Jordan Walden and Scott Downs to return this weekend from injuries. 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"Were obviously frustrated after having several situations to do some damage," Rodriguez said Thursday. After a crushing extra-inning loss on Wednesday, Baltimore staved off elimination in Game 4 on Thursday, as J.J. Hardys RBI double in the 13th inning lifted the Orioles to a 2-1 victory. The hit made a winner of Pedro Strop (1-0), who allowed one hit and struck out two over two scoreless innings of relief. "Its an honor to be in Game 5 with them," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "You knew all along that the road to where we want to try to get is going to have to pass through there and here." Nate McLouth hit his first career postseason homer in the win, while Jim Johnson pitched a perfect 13th to record his second save of the series. Johnson, of course, served up a game-tying home run to Raul Ibanez in the ninth inning of Wednesdays 12-inning setback. David Phelps (0-1) surrendered the deciding run to take the loss. Robinson Cano knocked in the lone run for New York, which hit 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. "Its playoff baseball and the games are extremely tight. Usually the difference in these games is one hit. That basically has been the difference," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Its been very good pitching. They controlled the bats for the most part, and its come down to one hit." The Yankees are shooting for their third trip to the ALCS in the last four years, while Baltimore hasnt advanced past the first round since 1997. New York should have an edge on Friday with lefty CC Sabathia on the hill. Sabathia was brilliant in his Game 1 win, allowing two runs and eight hiits in 8 2/3 innings.dddddddddddd He also struck out seven and walked a batter in his third straight win overall. "Its time to go," Sabathia said late Thursday night. "This is a one-game playoff and this is what we play for. Were here in the Bronx, at home, and like I said, Ill be excited and ready to go." Sabathia is 6-1 with a 3.29 ERA in 11 playoff starts with New York, but has pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 17 career postseason outings. Baltimore, meanwhile, will counter with righty Jason Hammel, who also pitched well in Game 1. Hammel did not factor in the decision, but surrendered two runs and four hits with four walks in 5 2/3 innings. "Its obviously an honor to be the one toeing the slab," said Hammel, who allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Yankees on Sunday. "But its been a team effort to get here ... Were very confident that we can go ahead and win one more. "It is all or nothing, but theres no reason to pressure ourselves anymore. Weve done this a million times this year. It seems like weve played these guys to a one run game every time out. Its really nothing new." This will be his fifth start this season against the Yankees, who have managed just three runs over their last 10 2/3 innings against Hammel. Showalter may need a big effort from Hammel on Friday, as Os relievers have thrown 11 1/3 innings over past two games. Including San Francisco and Detroits wins on Thursday, there have been 18 Division Series Game 5s and 11 have been won by the road team. Six of those 11 wins have come in the AL. Of the last 13 opening-round series to go to a Game 5, the home team has won only three of those contests The Yankees know that stat all too well, as they dropped a decisive fifth game at home last year to Detroit. They are also 5-4 all-time in best-of-five Game 5s. The Tigers, of course, won a Game 5 of their own on Wednesday and will play the winner of Fridays game in Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday. The Orioles and Yankees are certainly no strangers to one another and in addition to splitting 18 regular season meetings this season, these teams also met in the 1996 ALCS, a series won by New York, but one that was made famous by the Jeffrey Maier catch. New York won that series in five games. ' ' '