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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Another one-run victory by the Baltimore Orioles pushed the AL East race to the final day of the season. Chris Davis homered for the sixth straight game and the Orioles overcame a club-record 15 strikeouts by Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields to beat the Rays 1-0 Tuesday night. Baltimore remained one game behind the first-place New York Yankees, who rallied late to beat Boston 4-3 in 12 innings. The Orioles, already assured a playoff spot, need a victory Wednesday and a Yankees loss to force a one-game tiebreaker for the division title Thursday at Camden Yards. "Were not supposed to be here. So just go out and have fun and see what happens," closer Jim Johnson said after the Orioles improved to 29-9 in one-run games. "You have to win those games," he added. "If youre able to keep it close, you just try to find a way." Orioles rookie Miguel Gonzalez (9-4) limited the Rays to two singles over 6 1-3 innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out seven before manager Buck Showalter turned the game over to the bullpen. Davis joined Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson as the only Baltimore players to homer in six consecutive games, connecting off Shields (15-10) in the fourth. The Orioles managed only one other hit -- Nate McLouths sixth-inning single -- in Shields 19th career complete game and third this season. "He made one mistake, and fortunately Chris was on it," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. The Rays have lost 1-0 five times since Aug. 5 -- twice to the Orioles. "I hung a changeup. Hes a pretty good hitter. I think that was probably the farthest home run Ive ever given up in my career," Shields said. "I sent the bat boy over and told him to tell him, Can you hit it any farther? Just joking around a little bit. He said something like, Im sorry. Ill go and try and hit it 480 feet next time. I thought that was pretty funny." The Orioles, guaranteed at least a wild-card spot, clinched their first playoff berth in 15 years late Sunday. The Rays won the opener of the three-game series Monday night to extend a late surge that kept them in contention for the second AL wild card, but they were eliminated from post-season contention when the Oakland Athletics beat Texas a few hours later to assure themselves at least a wild card. Brian Matusz replaced Gonzalez after the starter struck out Jeff Keppinger to begin the seventh. Darren ODay worked the eighth for the Orioles, and Johnson finished the two-hitter for his major league-leading 51st save. Gonzalez pitched seven scoreless innings in his only previous start at Tropicana Field on Aug. 5, but was not involved in the decision in a game the Orioles won 1-0 in 10 innings. He limited the Rays to two hits and four walks in that outing and was even tougher on them this time. Evan Longoria singled leading off the second against the right-hander. B.J. Upton drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and was stranded at second when Longoria flied out and Keppinger struck out. Chris Gimenez opened the sixth with Tampa Bays second hit, and Gonzalez walked Ben Zobrist with two outs before fanning Longoria to end the threat. Shields was just as impressive, retiring 11 in a row before giving up Davis 33rd homer. The right-hander whiffed seven of the last nine batters he faced to finish with a flourish. "I knew this was my last game and I wanted to let it all hang out. I wanted to end on a good note, end on a bang," Shields said. "That was probably the best game of my career." Davis homered over the centre-field wall on a 1-1 changeup with two outs in the fourth. Jackson homered in six straight games for the Orioles in July 1976. "It kind of blows my mind to even be mentioned in the same breath as Reggie, but its more about the win than anything else," Davis said. "Im kind of glad to be the guy thats coming through in this situation, but as long as we get the win I dont care." NOTES: All-Star closer Fernando Rodney was selected as the Rays team MVP in a vote of local baseball writers covering the team. If the right-hander doesnt give up an earned run in Wednesday nights season finale, he will set a major league record for the lowest ERA by a relief pitcher working a minimum of 50 innings. Rodney got his 47th save Monday, lowering his ERA to 0.6053 in 74 1-3 innings. Dennis Eckersley set the record of 0.6136 for Oakland in 1990. ... Rays pitchers have struck out 10 or more batters in a game 60 times this season. ... Orioles RHP Jason Hammel, who threw a bullpen session Monday, is no longer restricted by his knee injury and is an option for the Orioles in the post-season, Showalter said. ... RHP Kevin Gausman, Baltimores first-round draft pick out of LSU, visited the team and said he hopes to pitch in the big leagues next year. "Thats one of my goals, but its not up to me," the 21-year-old said. NFL Jerseys China . "Im beat up," replied Bryant, who sat at his locker with a cold pack on his bothersome back, wraps on both knees and feet in a plastic tub filled with water and ice. "Trucking along, though." Straining to work out the kinks in an offence coach Mike DAntoni compared to dancing with two left feet, the Lakers ended a four-game losing streak by holding off the worst-in-the-NBA Washington Wizards 102-96 on Friday night, thanks in large part to Bryants 30 points and seven assists, along with Jodie Meeks 24 points. NFL Jerseys From China . Harper thought it was one of two things: "I was thinking I was going down because Rizzo and everybody was over there or the All-Star game," he said. http://studyworx.org/china.html . PETERSBURG, Fla.MIAMI -- LeBron James and four teammates chatted for several minutes under a basket after the Miami Heat finished practice on Friday afternoon, each player sporting a serious look for the entirety of the conversation. For the first time this season, the reigning NBA champions are dealing with some real trouble. Back-to-back losses -- at Washington on Tuesday, then by 20 points at home against a New York Knicks team that didnt even have Carmelo Anthony on Thursday -- have soured the Heat mood. Add that to some poor defensive numbers and Miami already needing six late rallies before closing out wins so far this season, and its easy to see why no one seemed to be laughing at work on Friday. "When you win everythings great. When you lose everythings bad," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "Thats how it works." As Wade spoke, James was chatting about 50 feet away with Ray Allen, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem and James Jones, a few of them sometimes gesturing at spots on the court as if to mimic how a play is or is not supposed to work. Typically, when the Heat are done with their actual practice, its a light-hearted time, one filled with shooting contests and things of that nature. That wasnt the case on Friday. "There is a cloud over our team because were not defending like we know were capable of defending," James said. "We have some room for improvement. The good thing is we can be great. But right now, were not good. Were not very good right now as a team and weve got to get to that point." Miamis next chance to start getting to that point comes Saturday, when the Heat play host to New Orleans. The Heat saw the Knicks make 18 shots -- on 44 tries -- from 3-point range on Thursday night, which became the latest entry on a list of events where Miami believes opponents have thrived simply by getting up to play against last seasons champions. So far this year, the Heat have seen opponents score at least 100 points 11 times in 17 games. Last season, that happened 16 times in 66 regular-season games. Some of the highlights, or lowlights, include the following: -- Washington scored 105 points against Miami on Tuesday, the most the Wizards have managed in regulation against anyone all season, and remember, they had one win all year entering that game. -- Wayne Ellington made seven 3-pointers for Memphis in a win over Miami on Nov.dddddddddddd 11. Hes 3 for 21 from beyond the arc since, entering Friday. -- Raymond Felton had a season-high 27 points, and tied a career-high with six 3-pointers in the Knicks win Thursday. "Never seen anything like this," Bosh said of how opponents have at times scored at will against Miami. "And Ive played on some bad defensive teams. Were not one." The most troubling defensive stat of all for the Heat is likely this: Miami entered Friday 23rd in points allowed per game, after finishing fourth in the league in that stat last season. The Heat have allowed the third-highest number of 3-pointers in the NBA so far, nothing new after giving up the second-most makes from beyond the arc a season ago. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra often speaks of habits and the human condition, and he was asked Friday if Miamis struggles are simply because the team knows the playoffs are still four months away. "If that is a reality, then that is a major problem," Spoelstra said. "But we have an opportunity to correct it, you know, right now. If it goes too long, what it becomes is a tendency. Goes longer than that, it becomes a habit. If it continues, by the time you get to the playoffs, thats who you are. So thats what were going to change right now." James insisted that the regular-season-is-irrelevant argument doesnt apply to Miami. "Not for me," James said. "Its not for me. My motivation is well beyond hoisting one trophy. Im not taking any shortcuts to get to that point, so I cant allow my teammates to take shortcuts. Weve got to be better. Ive got to be better. Its that simple." For two years, ever since Wade and James and Bosh decided to play together in Miami, the Heat have been surrounded by what they call "noise." Everything the Heat have done, the good and especially the bad, have been scrutinized. Winning last seasons title, they figured, would relieve perhaps a tiny bit of that noise -- that is, until the first rough patch of this season arrived. Its now here. And some inside the Heat locker room think that the extra motivation might not be a bad thing right now. "We understand what it takes to win," Haslem said. "We understand that we have what it takes to win. But not performing at a high enough level defensively, its just a shame. Weve got to fix it. And were going to fix it." ' ' '