St. Petersburg, FL -- (Sports Network) - Willie Aybar had a two-run single in a decisive eighth and James Shields tossed eight effective innings, as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2, in the middle contest of a three-game set from Tropicana Field.

The red-hot Rays at 77-48 also topped LA for best mark in the American League with the victory and remained 4 1/2 games ahead of Boston in the AL East with their ninth win in the last 11 games.

Shields (11-7) yielded just two runs on nine hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in earning the win. B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena had an RBI apiece while Jason Bartlett doubled and scored twice for the Rays.

"He battled again," Rays skipper Joe Maddon said of Shields' effort. "You see him a lot of times early in games bend a little but he always finishes strong."

LA starter Ervin Santana dominated for seven innings in the no-decision, fanning nine and walking two in allowing just one run on four hits. Vladimir Guerrero homered and doubled, scoring twice, while Garret Anderson extended his hitting streak to 22 games with an RBI double for LA, which has dropped five of its last six contests.

The Rays put a contentious sixth behind them and fought for a two-run lead with a three-run eighth. Scot Shields (5-4) entered for Santana and helped load the bases with nobody out. Two walks and a sacrifice bunt aided by Jeff Mathis' errant throw spelled trouble for Shields, who exited after getting Upton on a called strike three. Darren Oliver took over and walked Pena with the bases full before Aybar stroked a two-run single to left for the 4-2 lead.

"One inning got away form us," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We cracked the door open for them with the error and walks and Aybar got the big hit. We didn't get it done."

Dan Wheeler came on to close it out for his seventh save of the season, retiring both Howie Kendrick and Juan Rivera on strikes before pinch-hitter Kendry Morales flied out to right to end the game.

Guerrero strong-armed an opposite field, leadoff homer in the second, lifting LA to an early lead. Torii Hunter and Kendrick singled around an Anderson strikeout before Rivera stroked a single to center. Upton, however, fired a strike to get Hunter at home for the second out. James Shields got Mathis swinging to end the inning.

Guerrero blasted a ground-rule double to center leading off the fourth and Anderson ripped an RBI double down the right field line two batters later to extend the lead to 2-0.

Tampa cut the lead to one in a wild sixth. Bartlett doubled for the Rays' first hit of the game with one away and moved to third on an Akinori Iwamura infield single.

Upton sent a slow roller to first baseman Mark Teixeira who thought about going home before flipping to a covering Santana at first. Santana wasn't ready for the throw and the ball was fumbled away behind the bag allowing a run to score. First base umpire Jerry Meals ruled Upton had made a turn for second despite the runner never crossing the first base line and second baseman Kendrick quickly tagged Upton for the second out. An irate Maddon stormed the field and was quickly tossed before Cliff Floyd recorded the final out swinging at a Santana slider.

"It's unconscionable," Maddon said of the disputed call. "It can't happen. There's no room for that. That call can't happen. It was a fabricated call. It's a crucial part of the game in a pennant hunt. To make something up is wrong and then to be validated by the crew chief really got me upset."

Game Notes

Tampa Bay leads the season series 6-2 including a perfect mark of 5-0 at Tropicana Field...Wednesday's scheduled starters are Matt Garza (10-7) for the Rays and Jered Weaver (10-9) for the Angels.