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Yankees rout Devil Rays to book berth at playoffs

The New York Yankees pounded the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 12-4 on Wednesday to clinch a playoff berth for the 13th straight season.

With owner George Steinbrenner looking on, the Yankees atoned for their failure on Tuesday night, when they blew a 5-0 lead en route to a 7-6 loss to the Devil Rays.

Robinson Cano had a home run and five RBI, Derek Jeter homered, Doug Mientkiewicz had a career high-tying four hits and Jorge Posada added three RBI.

New York's Taiwanese hurler Wang Chien-ming (王建民) scattered seven hits in six innings, allowing two earned runs with three walks and six strikeouts to reach 19 wins for the second consecutive season.

Wang became the first Yankees pitcher with 19 or more victories in consecutive seasons since Tommy John won 21 in 1979 and 22 in 1980.

Tampa Bay grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Yankees responded with two runs in the fourth, seven in the fifth and three in the sixth, much to the delight of the Tropicana Field crowd -- at least half of which was rooting for New York.

"We need to believe in ourselves and have energy," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

"We never stopped believing all year. The most important thing for me is you can't concern yourself with what other people think of you. I can't say enough about the passion of these players. In the playoffs, we need to pitch and we need luck. Hopefully we can get a good result," he said.

The Yankees improved to 91-67 but remain a long shot to catch the Boston Red Sox for the American League East title. The Red Sox, who beat Oakland 11-6 on Wednesday, lead the Yankees by three games with four remaining.

"It was an unbelievable ride and I could not be more proud of every member of this team," Alex Rodriguez said. "We went through a lot of adversity and a lot of people counted us out."

Red Sox 11, Athletics 6

At Boston, Mike Lowell drove in five runs and Boston downed Oakland to cut its 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. The Red Sox, who remained three games in front of New York in the division, won for the fourth time in five games after a four-game losing streak.

In other AL games it was:

* Tigers 9, Twins 4, 5 innings, rain

* Rangers 16, Angels 2

* Indians 12, Mariners 4, Game 1; Mariners 3, Indians 2, 10 innings, Game 2

* Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5

* White Sox 3, Royals 0

The New York Mets blew a five-run lead on Wednesday and lost again to the Washington Nationals, cutting their lead over Philadelphia in the National League East to one game.

New York wasted two homers by Carlos Beltran and another from Moises Alou in a 9-6 loss to the Nationals.

The Phillies, who beat Atlanta 5-2, haven't been this close to first place since they lost on opening day. It's the Mets' slimmest margin since they were a half-game in front before play on May 17.

New York has dropped six straight home games and nine of 13 overall.

Ryan Church homered and drove in four runs for the Nationals, who completed a three-game sweep at Shea Stadium and improved to 5-1 against the Mets over a 10-day span. Beltran and Alou hit consecutive homers in the first and New York led 5-0 after three innings for Philip Humber, who was making his first major league start.

Phillies 5, Braves 2

At Philadelphia, Kyle Lohse pitched seven strong innings and Philadelphia improved its playoff hopes with a win over Atlanta.

Lohse (9-12) allowed two runs and six hits, striking out five and becoming the first Phillies starter to go seven innings since Jamie Moyer on Sept. 14.

Pinch-hitter Shane Victorino hit a solo homer, Greg Dobbs had a two-run single and Philadelphia took advantage of third baseman Chipper Jones' throwing error to score three unearned runs off Tim Hudson (16-10).

In other NL action it was:

* Marlins 7, Cubs 4

* Cardinals 7, Brewers 3

* Pirates 5, Diamondbacks 1

* Padres 11, Giants 3

* Rockies 2, Dodgers 0

* Astros 7, Reds 6
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