A's shore up top standing with win over Devil Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have really helped the Oakland Athletics in the AL West.
Ted Lilly pitched six solid innings and Mark Ellis had an RBI double Friday as the Oakland Athletics beat the Devil Rays, 3-1.
The Devil Rays are in a stretch of 12 straight games against the AL West-leading Athletics and second-place Seattle.
Tampa Bay took four of six from the Mariners, but has dropped all four games so far with Oakland -- and the Athletics have moved two games up on the Mariners in the AL West.
"They can beat the Mariners all they want," Ellis said. "They're a good team. They're a tough opponent."
In the past four games between the teams, Oakland has outscored Tampa Bay 16-8.
"We've got to figure out a way to score runs against this team," Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said.
Lilly (9-9) allowed one run and four hits, struck out seven and walked two, improving to 4-0 against the Devil Rays.
"Playing behind him, he makes hitters look really stupid sometimes," Ellis said. "That's a sign of having really good stuff."
Lilly has won three straight starts after a stretch during which he won just once in nine outings.
"I haven't really done the things that I'd like to," he said, "but more importantly, we're in first place and we've got a good chance to win the division and get into the playoffs. I look forward to being able to contribute from here on out."
Jim Mecir, Chad Bradford and Keith Foulke completed the four-hitter. Foulke got four straight outs for his 39th save in 44 chances.
Julio Lugo homered for Tampa Bay. Aubrey Huff went 0-for-4, ending his 13-game hitting streak.
Devil Rays pitchers threw 19 consecutive shutout innings before Ellis hit an RBI double in the second. Doug Waechter and Jorge Sosa pitched shutouts against Seattle on Wednesday and Thursday.
Jeremi Gonzalez (6-8) gave up three runs and nine hits in 61/3 innings.
"They just outpitched us," Piniella said.
Terrence Long made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third. Long played after appealing a four-game suspension assessed for bumping an umpire Tuesday at Baltimore.
Lugo made it 2-1 with a solo homer in the bottom of the third.
Ramon Hernandez hit the Athletics' second sacrifice fly with the bases loaded for a 3-1 lead in the seventh.
"We just got beat," Huff said. "Certain teams just have your number."