Rays beat Red Sox to complete sweep

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Evan Longoria had three hits and drove in three runs Wednesday night, helping the surging Tampa Bay Rays defeat the Boston Red Sox, 7-6, for their second three-game sweep of the World Series champions this season.

The Rays improved the best record in baseball to 52-32, rallying from a three-run deficit in the seventh inning and extending their lead in the AL East to a franchise-best 3 1/2 games over the second-place Red Sox, who matched a season high with their fifth consecutive loss.

Tampa Bay is 6-0 at home against Boston, which has swept two three-game series from the Rays at Fenway Park.

Longoria had a run-scoring single against Daisuke Matsuzaka in the first inning, and his two-run double against Craig Hansen (1-3) was the big blow in a six-run seventh and gave the rookie 15 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Jason Bartlett also had a two-run single in the seventh, making it 7-4 and setting off chants of “Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!” among the crowd of 36,048, the Rays’ fourth sellout of the season and only the 12th in the club’s 11 seasons.

Gary Glover, the third of four Rays pitchers, gave up one run in 1 2/3 innings to get the win.

Dustin Pedroia was four for five, finishing a single shy of becoming the first Boston player to hit for the cycle since John Valentin in 1996.