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Cobb, Rays pitching staff keep rolling

Alex Cobb wanted to make sure he wasn't the one to mess up the Tampa Bay Rays' streak of great pitching.

He went out Wednesday and posted his third consecutive strong start, working seven innings and allowing one run in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"We're having a blast," Cobb said. "Being on a roll like this, you definitely don't want to be a ripple in the water, so to speak. We're all feeding off each other and kind of competing at the same time. It's a lot of fun right now."

The overall pitching has been phenomenal since the All-Star break. Over that span (24 games), the Rays have a big-league-best 2.27 ERA, .198 opponents' average and 243 strikeouts. And in 12 of their last 18 games, they have allowed two or fewer runs.

The key to Cobb's success Wednesday was his curveball, which manager Joe Maddon said was the best he'd seen from any Rays pitcher this year. That allowed Cobb to make better use of his fastball and changeup, and the mix was impressive.

"All three pitches working at the same time for him tonight, maybe the best performance I've seen from him," Maddon said.