OAKLAND, Calif. -- What looked like a daunting road trip when they left home ended up being a winning one that the Tampa Bay Rays hope will provide a jolt of momentum for the stretch run. Alex Cobb shut down Oakland for seven innings and Carlos Pena homered to help Tampa Bay complete a successful nine-game trip by beating the Athletics 4-1 on Wednesday. "Winning on the road is always more difficult," Pena said. "To come out of this road trip playing great ballclubs like the ones we did and win all three series is a great sign. Its a very positive sign. We want to ride this positive momentum." Pena, who drove in five runs in the series, hit an RBI double in the sixth inning and a solo homer in the eighth for the Rays, who won three straight series on one trip for the fourth time in franchise history. The wins over Baltimore, the Angels and As marked the first time Tampa Bay won three straight road series against winning teams. "Its pretty spectacular," manager Joe Maddon said. "Before the trip everyone is talking 7-2. To me its always about that night. To win each series is about as good as it gets right now." Jeff Keppinger scored twice and Matt Joyce and Ryan Roberts also drove in runs for the Rays, who moved within 1 1/2 games of Oakland for the second wild-card spot in the American League. Brandon Inge homered for the As, who followed up the best July in club history by losing the first game of August. Oakland got back into the AL playoff race by going 19-5 last month, but the As have dropped consecutive games for the first time since losing three straight at Texas to end June. "Were not going to be perfect and put seven or eight runs on the board every time," manager Bob Melvin said. "Were going through a rough patch. Well be fine." Cobb (5-8) followed up James Shields shutout on Tuesday night with a strong start of his own, settling down after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first. He allowed four hits and one walk, striking out six as the Rays lowered their ERA to 1.70 on the trip. "Its just a contagious thing," Cobb said. "You see one pitcher doing good and you want to match him. You definitely dont want to be that guy to be the weak link in the rotation. As long as we can keep feeding off each other and throw strikes, well be fine." After getting only one run of support while losing his previous three starts, Cobb took the mound with a 1-0 lead thanks to some rare small ball by the Rays. Desmond Jennings led off against Jarrod Parker (7-5) with a single, advanced to second on B.J. Uptons first sacrifice bunt of the season and scored on a two-out hit by Joyce. Cobb struck out Brandon Moss with the bases loaded to end the bottom half, starting a run of 10 straight batters that he retired. That was snapped when Inge led off the fifth inning with his 12th homer to cut Tampa Bays lead to 2-1, but Cobb pitched around a double by Kurt Suzuki to preserve the lead. "He did a great job of getting strike one, a great job, all day long," Inge said. "He was 0-2 on a lot of guys and he made his pitches. He was effective." Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 32 chances. Keppinger doubled and scored on a two-out hit by Roberts to give Tampa Bat a 2-0 lead in the fourth. The Rays were unable to capitalize on another sacrifice bunt by Upton in the fifth when Ben Zobrist hit into a fielders choice with runners on second and third and Joyce grounded out. Penas RBI double in the sixth made it 3-1. Parker allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He gave up more than two runs for only the sixth time in 19 career starts. NOTES: As OF Josh Reddick went 0 for 4 to extend his career-worst hitless streak to 21 at-bats. ... The Rays optioned RHP Josh Lueke to Triple-A Durham after the game and will likely call up a position player when they return home Friday to face Baltimore. ... Oakland OF Coco Crisp (left hamstring) has made significant progress and could be back in the lineup soon, Melvin said. ... As SS Cliff Pennington (left elbow) could begin a rehab assignment Friday. ... The Rays granted Hideki Matsui his release before the game. He was designated for assignment last week. ... The As open a four-game home series against Toronto on Thursday when Bartolo Colon (7-8) takes the mound against Henderson Alvarez (7-7). cheap jerseys .cas 2013 Play of the Year Showdown sees Bostons big-man, Zdeno Chara go head-to-head with Cody Hodgson of the Sabres. nfl jerseys china .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. http://www.cheapjerseyscanada.ca/ . His ninth-inning grand slam couldnt have been bigger for the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. Amaristas first major league home run capped a six-run rally in the ninth inning off Houston closer Brett Myers and lifted the Padres to a 7-3 win over the Astros. cheap nfl jerseys . PETERSBURG, Russia -- And now for the gold-medal match. wholesale jerseys . The unrestricted free agent blueliner played last season for the Winnipeg Jets. The move came one day after the Hurricanes learned that defenceman Joni Pitkanen will be out for the season with a broken heel.GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- J.R. Smith is recovering from knee surgery, then faces an NBA suspension when he returns. Amare Stoudemire is recovering from knee surgery -- yes, thats three in the last year -- and faces a restriction on his minutes when he returns. The New York Knicks have the NBAs leading scorer in Carmelo Anthony, but after that there are questions about whos going to put the ball in the basket until their second- and third-leading scorers get back. They downplayed those concerns Tuesday after their first practice of the season. "Weve just got to be patient until we get those guys back, and then when they get back, theyre going to fit right in," coach Mike Woodson said. Smith was the NBAs Sixth Man of the Year last season after averaging a career-best 18.1 points. Though he apparently experienced knee pain since early in the season, he waited until well after it was finished to have patella tendon surgery and an arthroscopy on his left knee to repair a tear in the lateral meniscus. He said Monday the delay until mid-July was in part family related, that he felt it was more important to focus on getting his new contract done first. The Knicks said at the time the expected recovery time was 12-16 weeks, and along the way five more games have been tacked on to his absence when the NBA suspended him for violating the anti-drug program. Hell sit out the first five games hes physically able to play. The Knicks already planned to be cautious with Stoudemire this season after he played in just 29 games last season because of a pair of surgeries, one on each knee. Then he underwent another procedure on his left knee this summer, and though he was able to do some shooting Tuesday, the Knicks dont know when hell be ready for game action. Woodson said the former All-Star will play very limited minutes at the start, and its doubtful hell play more than about 25 a game at any point.dddddddddddd. Add the 14.2 points he averaged, and the Knicks are missing 32 per game from their top two reserves on last seasons 54-win team. "I think guys just have to do their part, making shots, and when their time comes just contribute everything that they have," Anthony said. "Well see what happens. Until J.R. gets back, until Amare gets back, we have enough guys that can score the basketball." He mentioned Andrea Bargnani, the former No. 1 overall pick the Knicks acquired from Toronto in July. But the Italian forward-centre played in just 66 games the last two seasons, his scoring nose-diving from a career-high 21.4 points per game in 2010-11 to just 12.7 last season. The Knicks think hell regain his form and provide outside shooting that will keep double-teams away from Anthony. "The main thing is winning, because in Toronto we didnt go to the playoffs for five straight years so Im starving for winning and get back to the playoffs," Bargnani said. "So its all about the team. I can score the ball, thats what I do, so I hope my scoring skills can help the team." New York also signed Metta World Peace, but he hadnt even averaged in double figures for two straight seasons before rebounding with 12.4 points per game last season. Still, Woodson thinks this team has enough options that it can be more balanced than the 2012-13 squad that set an NBA record with 891 3-pointers but often became stagnant when the outside shots werent falling. He said Anthony, Bargnani, World Peace and eventually Stoudemire can all play in the post. "It gives us a better threat this year," Woodson said, "where we dont have to always live on the perimeter and be able to explore mismatches, which is kind of nice." cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '