ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-- Pinch-hitter Gabe Gross doubled with the bases loaded, driving in two runs in the bottom of ninth inning to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.

AP

Carlos Lee slides into Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura breaking up an attempted double play allowing Lance Berkman to score during the eighth inning. The teams played in throwback uniforms, with the Rays wearing those of the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the defunct Senior Professional Baseball Association.

With a 3-2 lead in the ninth, Houston manager Cecil Cooper turned to Doug Brocail (2-3) instead of calling on closer Jose Valverde to finish the game. It turned out to be the wrong move; Brocail failed to record an out.

Gross was the third straight pinch hitter to come through for the Rays, who got a leadoff single from Cliff Floyd off Brocail. The Houston pitcher then allowed pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to single and hit pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro with a pitch to load the bases for Gross.

The Rays won for the sixth time in eight games to pull within a half game of Boston in the AL East.

The Astros have lost nine of 10. Their 4-3 win over the Rays on Friday night was their only win since June 10.

Carlos Lee hit a solo homer, then broke up a potential inning-ending double play to allow the Astros to take a 3-2 lead in the eighth.

Lee was 2-for-3 and drew an intentional walk from J.P. Howell in the eighth after Lance Berkman struck out, but wound up on second base when catcher Shawn Riggans could not hold onto the third strike and threw wildly past first for an error.

Berkman stole third and scored when Geoff Blum grounded into a force play, with Lee sliding hard into second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Rays manager Joe Maddon argued that Lee ran out of the base path to break up the double play.

Justin Ruggiano hit his first career homer, a solo shot in the fourth, for Tampa Bay. Carl Crawford had an RBI triple in the third off Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez, who allowed two runs and five hits, walked two and struck out six in 5 2-3 innings.

Turn Back The Clock/80's Night, along with a postgame concert featuring Kool & The Gang, drew a crowd of 29,953 to Tropicana Field, up from 14,741 the previous night for the opener of the three-game series.

The Astros wore retro rainbow uniforms from the 1980's, while the Rays wore home pinstripes honoring the 1989-90 St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a short-lived league stocked with former major leaguers.

Rodriguez held the Rays hitless until Willy Aybar doubled down the left field line with one out in the fourth. Crawford followed from his triple to wipe out the 1-0 lead the Astros took on Lee's 16th homer of the season.

Former Astros pitcher Dan Wheeler (2-3) got the win for the Rays.

Notes:@ The Pelicans, the only team to win a Senior Professional Baseball Association championship, were presented championship rings for the 1989 season. Former major leaguer Bobby Tolan was the manager of that team and a number of ex-big leaguers, including Ron LeFlore, Steve Kemp, Lenny Randle, Joe Sambito, Ozzie Virgil, Jr., and Elias Sosa, were among those who returned for the pregame festivities. ... Astros Triple-A manager Dave Clark is filling in this weekend for third base coach Ed Romero, who has a sore knee. Romero hopes to resume his duties Tuesday against Texas. ... Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli (mitochondrial disorder), who been sidelined since May 2007, reported no problem from a three-rehab trip to Class A Vero Beach. There's good chance he'll return there for more games after Rays officials evaluate his progress.