Yankees clinch 13th straight playoff berth

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- George Steinbrenner moved to the front row of the owner’s private suite, and the celebration was on.

The New York Yankees clinched their 13th straight postseason appearance, beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 12-4, Wednesday night to assure themselves of at least a wild-card berth in the playoffs.

The victory, New York’s 15th in 20 games, eliminated defending AL champion Detroit from postseason contention.

“We’ve come from a long ways this year and a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries,” Alex Rodriguez said. “This team has a lot to be proud of.”

New York, 21-29 before play on May 30, went 70-38 after that in making the playoffs every year since 1995. New York’s streak of 13 consecutive trips is one shy of the record set by the Atlanta Braves.

Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano homered, and the Yankees broke a close game open with a seven-run fifth inning.

Cano tied a career-best with five RBIs. Chien-Ming Wang (19-7) got the victory.

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RESULTS

at Boston 11, Oakland 6: Mike Lowell drove in five runs and the Red Sox cut their magic number to clinch the AL East to two. Lowell had three of Boston’s 17 hits and took over the team lead with a career-high 116 RBIs, two more than David Ortiz. He raised his batting average to a career-best .326. Manny Ramirez went three for three with an RBI one day after going one for two in his return from a side injury.

at Detroit 9, Minnesota 4 (5 innings, rain): Mike Hessman hit a home run and an RBI single to lead the Tigers to a rain-shortened victory on the day they were eliminated from the playoff race. New York decided Detroit’s fate with a 12-4 victory over Tampa Bay just as crew chief Bruce Froemming came onto the field at Comerica Park to declare the game was over.

Indians 12-2, at Seattle 4-3 (second game, 10 innings): The Indians fell into a tie with Boston for the best record in the AL when the Mariners’ won on Mike Morse’s RBI single in the 10th inning of the second game. In the makeup of a snowed-out April game, Luis Rivas homered and tripled in an eight-run third inning in which the Indians sent 13 batters to the plate.

Toronto 8, at Baltimore 5: Matt Stairs and Adam Lind both had two RBIs as the Blue Jays sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the first inning, the most prolific opening inning in team history. Roy Halladay (16-7) gave up five runs, three earned, and 11 hits in seven-plus innings to match last season’s win total.

at Chicago 3, Kansas City 0: Jon Garland (10-13) threw his first shutout of the season and Jim Thome hit his 505th homer to lead the White Sox. Jermaine Dye had a two-run homer for the White Sox, who moved out of a tie with the Royals for last place in the AL Central. Thome’s 33rd home run moved him to 22nd on the all-time list.

New York 12, at Tampa Bay 4: The Yankees won big, but their stretch of 110 innings without a starter giving up a homer ended with Carlos Pena’s fifth-inning shot. It dated to Sept. 5.

at Texas 16, Angels 2: Sammy Sosa hit the 21st home run of his season and the 609th of his career as the Rangers finished with five in their home finale.