ST. PETERSBURG Joe Crede Jersey , Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays are on quite a run.Kevin Kiermaier tripled to key a two-run sixth inning, Tommy Pham homered and the Rays won their seventh straight game by beating the major league-leading Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Saturday night.“We’ve gotten some confidence, and I think we’ve found our identity,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.The surprising Rays will try to become the first team this season to sweep Boston in a series Sunday when the teams complete a three-game set.“We’ve been good on getaway days and day games,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It would be a good day to put everything together, finish strong and turn the page in this stadium.”Tampa Bay is a season-high eight games over .500 (69-61). The Rays have allowed three or fewer runs in seven consecutive games.J.D. Martinez had two doubles in four at-bats for the Red Sox, who have lost five of seven. Boston (90-41) had its AL East lead sliced to seven games over the New York Yankees, who swept a doubleheader at Baltimore.“At the end of the day I felt like we lost this game because we didn’t take it to them and they took it to us,” Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. “That’s not usually the case for our ballclub.”Martinez (.337) jumped ahead of teammate Mookie Betts (.335) for the best batting average in the majors. Martinez also leads in RBIs (110) and is second in the AL in homers (38).Betts was hitless in four at-bats and is 6 for 38 (.158) over his last nine games.Tampa Bay chased Porcello (15-7) in the sixth after Kiermaier tripled and Willy Adames was hit by a pitch. Kiermaier scored on a wild pitch by Ryan Brasier before Joey Wendle made it 3-1 later in the inning on a sacrifice fly.“That was a huge hit, maybe the biggest one of the night http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-james-shields-jersey ,” Cash said about Kiermaier’s triple.Pham hit a solo shot off Brandon Workman in the seventh, and Ji-Man Choi’s RBI triple put Tampa Bay up 5-1 in the eighth.Pham returned after missing three games with a dislocated right ring finger.“I didn’t think I had enough power to hit a home run,” Pham said. “My grip strength isn’t quite there, but I had enough.”Porcello gave up three runs and six hits over five-plus innings.Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run and five hits in five-plus innings. Ryne Stanek (2-3) replaced Yarbrough and worked a scoreless inning for the win.Tampa Bay threatened in four of the first five innings but went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring positions during that stretch. Brandon Lowe had an RBI single in the fourth that tied it 1-all.Boston scored in the second on Mitch Moreland’s double-play grounder.MALLEX MENDINGCash visited OF Mallex Smith, who was hospitalized Friday with a viral infection and should be discharged in the next couple of days. “I think he’s going to have a lengthy process, probably, of getting back,” Cash said. “He’s in good spirits. He seemed night and day different from where he was (Friday).”TRAINER’S ROOMRed Sox: Cora hasn’t completely ruled out 2B Dustin Pedroia, limited to three games in May following left knee surgery, from playing again this season. “We don’t have anything set as far as timetables Ron Santo Jersey , but we’re feeling good with the progress,” Cora said. … LHP Chris Sale (left shoulder inflammation) could resume throwing soon after the team returns home Monday. … LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (sprained right ankle) will make a rehab start Monday with Double-A Portland.UP NEXTRays All-Star LHP Blake Snell (15-5) will face Boston RHP and former teammate Nathan Eovaldi (5-5) on Sunday. “He really helped me with my work ethic and led by example,” said Snell, who is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts against Boston this season. “That’s just him as a player and a person. He’s very special.” Eovaldi is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA in five starts with Boston since being acquired from the Rays on July 25. The Chicago Cubs will try to move closer to locking up another National League Central title when they visit the Chicago White Sox to wrap up a three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.The Cubs (90-64) have a 2 1/2-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers with eight games remaining in the regular season after Javy Baez homered in Saturday’s 8-3 victory. Chicago is seeking its third straight division title under manager Joe Maddon, who is 382-257 since taking over in 2015.But a division title is not enough for Cubs fans who once suffered through a 108-year title drought but now are hungry for their second World Series championship in the past three seasons.Article continues below ...“What happened is we’ve done well the last couple of years, but the one run we had in ’16 set this impossible standard,” Maddon said to the Chicago Tribune. “Everybody believes you’re going to run away and win 100-something games on an annual basis, and if you don’t, it’s going to be somewhat of a failure.“That’s the impression I see. I think we’re appreciated, absolutely. The thing that happens sometimes is when you get there a couple of times http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-yolmer-sanchez-jersey , 90 wins is not enough. You have to win 100, 105. For us, it’s just about winning the last game of the season. That’s all we’re trying to do.”The White Sox (61-93) would love to put the Cubs in a sour mood in the rubber match of the series and the final meeting of the season between the crosstown rivals, whose stadiums sit eight miles from one another on the north and south sides of the city.The Cubs have a 3-2 edge in the season series entering Sunday’s finale.Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks (12-11, 3.58 ERA) will make his 32nd start of the season. The 28-year-old has 50 career wins with the Cubs to go along with a 3.10 ERA. He finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2016.In five starts against the White Sox, Hendricks is 0-2 with a 4.10 ERA. He has walked five and fanned 25 in 26 1/3 innings.The White Sox will send out ace left-hander Carlos Rodon (6-6, 3.22 ERA), who will make his 19th start. He has a career record of 26-27 with a 3.78 ERA since entering the big leagues in 2015.In two starts against the Cubs, Rodon is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. He has walked nine and struck out 17 in 10 innings.White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada leads the majors with 209 strikeouts. He is 14 shy of Mark Reynolds’ record of 223 with eight games to go, meaning it is unlikely — but possible — that he could take the dubious record.“I never thought about that Adam Engel Jersey ,” Moncada said through a team interpreter to MLB.com. “I just tried to play my game, enjoy the game, do the things I can do to help us win games. I don’t like to strike out, but I never thought about that record.”Neither does White Sox manager Rick Renteria.“The only talk about it is when you guys ask me about it,” Renteria said. “I don’t talk to him about it. I talk to him more about his approaches. (Hitting coach Todd Steverson) talks to him about his approaches, how he’s attacking a particular pitcher, and then reinforce (the positive) when he does have good at-bats, even though the outcome might not be a good outcome.”