(Best E Casino) - The Tampa Bay Rays can move further towards achieving their goal of an American League East title in tonight's doubleheader with the host Baltimore Orioles from Camden Yards.

Tampa Bay extended its lead on defending world champion Boston in the division standings with a 4-2 victory over the Orioles in Monday's opener of this four- game series. That win coupled with the Red Sox' 4-3 loss to Cleveland last night, put the Rays 2 1/2 games up in the AL East race and reduced the team's magic number to clinch the division to five.

The Rays have already ensured themselves their first-ever playoff berth in the franchise's 11-year history by winning twice against Minnesota over this past weekend.

Tampa's Jason Bartlett snapped a 2-2 tie with an RBI ground-rule double in the top of the seventh inning of Monday's triumph, and the Rays got an insurance run later in the frame when Carlos Pena drew a bases-loaded walk against O's reliever Rocky Cherry (0-3).

Akinori Iwamura had a two-run single earlier in the game to help the Rays win for the fifth time in their last seven contests.

Grant Balfour (1-2) picked up the victory with 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of former No. 1 overall pick David Price, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of his first major league start. The highly-regarded prospect ended up allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits over 5 1/3 frames.

Baltimore starter Brian Bass did not give up a hit in his 4 2/3-inning stint, but issued four walks that led to Tampa Bay's first two runs. Bass threw just 36 of 73 pitches for strikes.

Ramon Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Orioles, who have now lost six straight games and are a woeful 5-23 since August 22.

Baltimore's struggles could very well continue in a matchup against Tampa Bay hurler James Shields in the opener of tonight's twinbill. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.57 earned run average in four previous clashes with the Orioles this year, including an August 31 decision at Tropicana Field in which Shields yielded just one run over seven innings.

Shields is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 11 lifetime starts against Baltimore, and the Rays have emerged victorious in each of his last six encounters with the Orioles.

The 26-year-old is coming off a shaky outing against Minnesota on Thursday, when Shields surrendered six runs (5 earned) in 6 1/3 innings of a no- decision.

He'll be followed tonight by Mitch Talbot, who makes his first major league start for the Rays in game two. The 24-year-old made his debut in the bigs during a home loss to Boston on September 15, with Talbot allowing four runs and a pair of homers in three innings of relief.

A second-round choice of Houston in the 2002 draft, Talbot was traded to the Rays organization in July of 2006 as part of a deal that sent current Oriole Aubrey Huff to the Astros. The right-hander went 13-9 with a 3.86 ERA in 28 starts for Triple-A Durham prior to his September callup.

The Orioles will send out Garrett Olson in game one and rookie Alfredo Simon in the nightcap.

Olson enters tonight's tilt off back-to-back losses and is 1-4 with a horrid 10.48 ERA over his last seven starts. The young lefty hasn't made it out of the third inning in three of those mound trips.

The 24-year-old did win his only previous start against Tampa Bay, however. That came at Camden Yards on April 29, with Olson holding the Rays to two runs and four hits over a solid 6 2/3 innings. He is 5-2 in 11 home starts this season despite having posted a 6.00 ERA in those games.

Simon was promoted to the majors in September and made a pair of relief appearances with the Orioles in preparation for his first start in the majors. The 27-year-old Dominican was tagged for three runs and a pair of homers through 1 2/3 innings against Oakland on September 6, then rebounded to throw 1 2/3 shutout frames in a September 13 matchup with Minnesota.

Tampa Bay has dominated this year's season series between these AL East foes. The Rays have won 12 of their 15 meetings with the Orioles in 2008 and posted a 4-2 mark so far at Camden Yards.

The teams are playing a doubleheader to make up a rained-out game originally scheduled for April 3.