BOSTON – Three games out. Eleven left to play. And the Tampa Bay Rays mean it when they say the next one is the most important of all.

“We are definitely playing playoff baseball right now and we’re not even in the playoffs yet,” Manager Joe Maddon said Saturday after the Rays beat Boston 4-3 to trim the Red Sox lead in the AL wild-card race to three games.

Additional Photos

Dustin Pedroia throws his bat down after striking out to end the seventh inning. He finished 0 for 4 and the Red Sox saw their lead in the AL wild-card race cut to three games. The Associated Press

“I love the fact that we do have a bunch of tough guys. … When you’re playing this time of year for all the marbles, you can’t be intimidated by the opponent or the venue,” he said.

Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer off Jon Lester, and Jeff Niemann (11-7) pitched five solid innings to give Tampa Bay its seventh win in its last eight games against Boston, including two of three so far in this weekend’s four-game series. The Red Sox have lost 10 of their last 13 games since Sept. 3, when they led the wild-card race by nine games.

Tim Wakefield faces Tampa Bay’s David Price in the series finale today.

“Of course the sweep was a great thought, and we lost that possibility (Friday),” Maddon said.

With a victory over Boston today, the Rays would trail by two heading into the final 10 games. But they have seven of their last 11 against the first-place New York Yankees, and Boston has seven of its remaining games against the last-place Baltimore Orioles.

“This isn’t our first go-round at this,” Lester said. “We’ve got plenty of guys in that clubhouse that have been through it. It’s easier when you’re coming from behind than where we’re at. There’s no pressure. Obviously they’re doing a good job. We’ve just got to grind it out. That’s the attitude in that clubhouse. We’ve got to stay working and grind. We can’t worry about what’s being said about us or what’s going on.”

Matt Moore pitched three innings of relief, and Joel Peralta pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

“We’ve got to come back and try to get another one,” Peralta said. “I know we’ve got a tough road. I know we’re chasing, and we’re chasing a great team. But we’re playing great this month.”

Lester (15-8) went just four innings against Tampa Bay last Sunday, giving up four runs but throwing 111 pitches to lose for the first time in six starts. He was better this time, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks and striking out five in seven innings.

But the result was the same.

For the second straight night, the Rays got to Boston’s starter in the first. Desmond Jennings walked to lead off the game and scored on Zobrist’s homer off the top of the Green Monster. Tampa added another run in the third when Jennings doubled and, after moving up on a groundout, scored on a wild pitch.

The Red Sox made it 3-2 in the bottom half when Mike Aviles hit an RBI double and scored on a sacrifice fly, but Evan Longoria’s run-scoring single in the fifth made it 4-2.

Carl Crawford singled to lead off the seventh against Moore and scored on Jacoby Ellsbury’s groundout to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Moore fanned Dustin Pedroia with Ellsbury on third to end the inning.

David Ortiz hit a long fly ball off Moore in the eighth, but B.J. Upton caught it at the warning track in front of the Boston bullpen.

Aviles had three hits, including a single up the middle with two out in the ninth. But Peralta got Marco Scutaro on a grounder to third to end the game.

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