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Sep 3, 2010 - 5:14 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Tampa Bay (82-51) at Baltimore (49-84), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Matt Garza has been outstanding in his last three outings, and his next one is in a place where he's never lost.

He'll put his 5-0 career record at Camden Yards on the line Friday night when the Tampa Bay Rays open a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Garza (13-7, 3.53 ERA) is 2-0 with an 0.83 ERA in his last three starts. He gave up one run over seven innings Saturday in a 3-2, 10-inning win over Boston.

The right-hander is 8-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 11 lifetime starts against Baltimore (49-85), including 5-0 with a 4.04 ERA in seven at Camden Yards. His last one there was not very good, though, as he gave up seven runs over 6 1-3 innings in an 11-10, 13-inning loss July 20.

Tampa Bay (82-51) begins this nine-game trip in second place in the AL East, 1 1/2 games behind New York. The Rays lead Boston by 6 1/2 games for the wild card.

"This is a race, New York, Boston," second baseman Sean Rodriguez told the Rays' official website. "This next month, there's a lot of what you live for if you're a baseball player."

David Price won his 16th game with eight innings of one-run ball Wednesday in a 2-1 victory over Toronto. Evan Longoria's single in the eighth scored Ben Zobrist with the go-ahead run.

"Just another well-played baseball game with pitching and defense at the forefront," manager Joe Maddon said. "It was fun to watch."

Tampa Bay is 9-3 against Baltimore, including 5-1 on the road. Longoria is hitting .300 with 12 RBIs against the Orioles this year, and Carl Crawford is batting .359 with seven runs scored.

The Orioles are assured of their 13th straight losing season and have dropped two straight following a four-game win streak, leaving manager Buck Showalter one win shy of 900 for his career.

The Rays, though, are not far removed from their days as a losing ballclub. They insist they will not be overconfident since they relished the role of spoiler in the past.

"Those teams become dangerous," slugger Carlos Pena said. "We won't take any teams for granted."

Baltimore starter Kevin Millwood (3-14, 5.34) is enduring the worst season of his 14-year career, but was outstanding Saturday in limiting the Angels to six hits in eight innings in a 5-0 victory. Millwood was 0-6 with a 6.15 ERA over his previous eight outings.

"Every year you pretty much go through a stretch where you struggle. Obviously this year was a little longer than normal," Millwood said. "But one big thing for me since I signed my first pro contract is that I've never doubted myself."

Millwood is 2-2 with a 5.80 ERA in six career starts against Tampa Bay. The veteran right-hander did not receive a decision in his lone start against the Rays this year April 6 on opening day when he gave up two runs over five innings in a 4-3 loss.