Join us » ing Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.A

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Chris Tillman continued the run of consistent starting pitching for the surging Baltimore Orioles. He excelled over eight innings and the Orioles earned a 4-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night to compete the three-game sweep. "Chris does things the right way," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Usually theres good karma when he pitches." Tillman (12-3), who was added to the AL All-Star team as an injury replacement but did not pitch Tuesday night at Citi Field, gave up two runs and six hits while striking out seven. He held the slumping Rangers, who have lost four in a row and seven of eight, in check until Adrian Beltre chased him with a leadoff homer in the ninth. Darren ODay got two outs against his former team to earn his second save. "(Tillmans) fastball was working for him and he had a handle on all three of his off-speed pitches," catcher Matt Wieters said. "I knew I could put any finger down and know hed be around the plate and could get a swing and a miss." The Orioles (56-43) moved a season-high 13 games over .500 with its seventh victory in eight games, a run that has been keyed by consistent starting pitching. Baltimore starters are 7-1 in its past eight games. Baltimore leads the Rangers by 1 1/2 games for the ALs second wild-card spot. The Orioles beat Texas in Arlington in last years AL wild-card game. "Theyre a lethal team," Showalter said "I feel sorry for whoever they play against next. We hope to be in the playoff hunt, and we know (the Rangers) will be there at the end." Wieters had two hits and scored twice as the bottom half of the Baltimore lineup did the most damage. The last five hitters in the order scored all four runs, drove in three and had seven of the Orioles 10 hits. Wieters is hitting .438 with a home run, two RBIs and four runs in the past four games. "I wish I could tell you why," Wieters said. "I just have to continue to grind, continue to work and get some pitches I could drive. Just keep plugging along." Martin Perez (3-3) pitched 6 1-3 innings for the Rangers (54-44), giving up four runs and nine hits. He didnt get much help from his defence. "Very uncharacteristic baseball," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Plays that we usually take pride in making we just havent made them. Sometimes the game finds you in that position. Were going to keep grinding." Neal Cotts, Joakim Soria and Cory Burns came out of the bullpen to combine for 2 2-3 shutout innings. Texas relievers have thrown 19 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings. Nate McLouth led off the game with a single for the third straight game, but Baltimore didnt really get going until the second inning. Thats when Rangers left fielder David Murphy lost Chris Davis fly ball in the sun for a leadoff double. Davis scored on Wieters single for a 1-0 lead. Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus made an error on a potential double play grounder that instead left the bases loaded with nobody out. Brian Roberts singled to make it 2-0, but Perez got out of the jam with consecutive strikeouts and a groundout. In the third, Wieters doubled past a diving Beltre at third base and J.J. Hardy put the Orioles up 3-0 with a double that sailed over Craig Gentrys head in centre field. Baltimore added its fourth run in the fourth. Roberts started the inning with a double and scored on Manny Machados single that caromed off Perezs glove and into centre field. Texas scored in the fifth on Ian Kinslers RBI single to right, but Murphy got caught in a rundown between third and home and was tagged out by Wieters. That made it twice in three games that a Rangers runner was thrown out after rounding third and trying to get back to the bag. Beltres home run was the first by a Rangers player since his two-run shot in the ninth inning against Detroit on July 13. NOTES: Rangers LHP Matt Harrison, on the disabled list because of a herniated disk that required two operations in late April and early May, threw a 45-pitch bullpen session Saturday and will throw 60-65 pitches Monday. The teams opening day starter said he plans to throw batting practice Wednesday. "My goal is the end of August or early September, but if things go good, maybe we can speed that up," Harrison said. ... Rangers RHP Alexi Ogando (shoulder inflammation) is slated to come off the disabled list Tuesday and start against the New York Yankees. His last appearance was against Boston on June 5. Robert Hagg Jersey . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Claude Giroux Jersey . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/ivan-provorov-jersey/ .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Dave Schultz Flyers Jersey . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Oskar Lindblom Flyers Jersey . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. GREEN BAY, Wis. -- An unusually early bye week did the Green Bay Packers some good.The team returned to work Monday and practiced for about 90 minutes at nearly full strength as a few key defensive players returned from injury.The bye couldnt have come at a (more) perfect time, veteran safety Morgan Burnett said. Now were getting guys back, getting guys healthy, and thats what you really want going down the stretch.Burnett joined star linebacker Clay Matthews, nose tackle Letroy Guion and defensive end/linebacker Datone Jones in practice after they were sidelined for Green Bays pre-bye win over the Detroit Lions on Sept. 25.The improved health of the team after a week off comes as the Packers (2-1) get ready to host the New York Giants on Sunday night.We need everybody out there, defensive back Micah Hyde said. Its going to be a competitive game.Coach Mike McCarthy said earlier Monday that he would have to wait to see how the injured players who returned to the field fared in practice before assessing just how healthy the Packers will be for their next game.Veteran cornerback Sam Shields still hasnt been cleared to resume football activities after missing the past two games because of a concussion.Hes improving, McCarthy said. I know the break was good for him. He was able to go home.But McCarthy indicated the team is being very cautious with Shields, who has a history of head injuries. A concussion kept him from playing four games toward the end of last season.No stone has been left unturned, McCarthy said. I think we have a very good handle on why and how and really the process for him to come back.The Packers pass defense has struggled without Shields, giving up numerous big plays and allowing an average of 307.3 yards through the air to rank 29th.Obviously, if it was that easy, anybody would be doing it, cornerback Damarious Randall said.The second-year cornerback was picked on by quarterbacks Sam Bradford of Minnesota and Matthew Stafford of Detroit the past two games, during which the Vikings Stefon Diggs had nine catches for 182 yards and the Lions Marvin Jones Jr.dddddddddddd had six receptions for 205 yards and two touchdowns.I know weve been struggling -- me, in particular, has been struggling, Randall said. The great thing about that, Im not struggling because of the (opposing) receivers. Im struggling because of myself. I know Im going to bounce back.Thats really the best part about the bye week, to know that its me. If it was the other way around, then Id be in trouble.McCarthy and his staff devoted the teams meetings and practice time Monday to self-improvement with a focus on cleaning up the fundamentals.The preparations for the upcoming game will start after the Packers get a chance to watch the Giants play the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.And Green Bays players are unfazed that having the bye after only three games means the team will have to finish the season with a long, uninterrupted stretch of 13 games and possibly more once the postseason comes.Near the end of the bye week, I was kind of bored. I was like, `I kind of want to be back already, said rookie linebacker Blake Martinez, a Stanford product who spent part of the week in California.Game notes FB Aaron Ripkowski also practiced Monday. He suffered a back injury in the previous game. TE Jared Cook, who left that game with an ankle injury, remains out. WR Jeff Janis practiced without the club-like cast he wore on his surgically repaired right hand the first three games. ... The Packers signed FB Joe Kerridge to the practice squad. Kerridge, an undrafted rookie from Michigan, previously was on the Washington Redskins practice squad.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '