Jason Giambi hit a grand slam, Jorge Posada added a solo homer and New York beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-2 on Tuesday, the Yankees' sixth straight victory.
New York (82-62) have won 10 of their last 13 to move a season-high 20 games over .500. The Yankees are four games in front of Detroit in the American League wild-card standings after the Tigers split a doubleheader with Texas on Tuesday.
Giambi, who was 2-for-27 over his past 10 games, went 1-for-3. The grand slam was his first of the season and 12th of his career.
Phil Hughes (3-3) allowed two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in six innings to win for the first time since Aug. 10.
Edwar Ramirez struck out five in two innings of scoreless relief, and Ross Ohlendorf closed it out in the ninth in his major league debut.
New York took a 3-0 lead in the second against Shaun Marcum. Toronto made it 3-2 in the bottom of the inning, but Posada's two-out homer in the third made it 4-2 and the Yankees pulled away in the fifth when Giambi hit his 13th homer, and first since Aug. 26.
Rangers 13, Tigers 6, 1st game; Tigers 4, Rangers 1, 2nd game
At Detroit, rookie Jair Jurrjens allowed one run over five innings to lead the Tigers to the split of the day-night doubleheader.
Marlon Byrd hit two of the Rangers' seven homers in their 13-6 win in the opener.
Jurrjens (2-1) was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday after having shoulder problems.
Detroit is four games behind the Yankees, who beat Toronto 9-2, in the AL wild-card race. The Tigers are six-and-a-half games behind first-place Cleveland, which beat Chicago, in the AL Central.
The Rangers, who took an 11-0 lead in the first game, went up 1-0 on Byrd's sacrifice fly in the first inning of the nightcap, but Brandon McCarthy (5-9) couldn't survive the bottom of the inning.
Gary Sheffield's RBI single in the first ended an 0-for-25 slump, his longest since an 0-for-29 skid in 2002. Magglio Ordonez and Ivan Rodriguez added RBI hits in the inning.
Todd Jones pitched a perfect ninth for his 34th save.
The second-game loss ended Texas' season-best winning streak at six games, but they have still won 13 of 16.
Hank Blalock, David Murphy, Freddy Guzman, Jarrod Saltamacchia and Ramon Vazquez also homered for Texas, which had not hit seven homers in a game since getting eight on June 30, 2005, against the Angels.
In other games, it was: Angels 10, Orioles 5; Red Sox 16, Devil Rays 10; Indians 8, White Sox 3; Twins 6, Royals 3; Athletics 7, Mariners 4.
Jake Peavy won his league-leading 17th game and the National League wild card-leading San Diego Padres backed him with four home runs in a 9-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.
Brian Giles, Khalil Greene, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Geoff Blum homered for the Padres, who extended their lead over second-place Philadelphia to two-and-a-half games with the Phillies' 8-2 loss to Colorado. San Diego's lead over the third-place Dodgers is three-and-a-half games.
Peavy (17-6) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. He has won each of his five starts against Los Angeles this season, including three at Dodger Stadium.
Esteban Loaiza (1-1) gave up six runs and six hits in three-and-a-third innings. He walked three of the first four batters he faced. Loaiza gave up back-to-back homers to Greene and Kouzmanoff in the third.
Giles sent a 3-0 pitch from Loaiza into the right field pavilion with two outs in the second. San Diego added three runs in the seventh, including Blum's homer off Rudy Seanez.
Braves 13, Mets 5
At New York, Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer and Atlanta roughed up Orlando Hernandez in a victory over New York.
Yunel Escobar also went deep for Atlanta, which played without Chipper Jones for the second straight night but still managed 13 hits. Willie Harris drove in three runs, and Jeff Francoeur was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
In other games, it was: Brewers 6, Pirates 1; Marlins 13, Nationals 8; Rockies 8, Phillies 2; Reds 7, Cardinals 2; Astros 5, Cubs 4, 11 innings; Giants 2, Diamondbacks 1.
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