New York ? Jason Giambi took a curtain call, and Esteban Loaiza received the souvenir ball. For a pair of guys struggling since playing in the All-Star game, it was a nice time to break out.

Giambi homered to end the longest slump of his career, and Loaiza finally earned his 100th career victory and first for the Yankees, leading New York over the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3, Tuesday night.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Giambi said.

Added Loaiza: “I feel a lot more part of it now.”

Gary Sheffield hit his 36th home run two days after getting a pair of cortisone shots. Alex Rodriguez almost homered for the Yankees, too, but center fielder Vernon Wells made a spectacular catch to stop him.

“You hate to rob guys of stuff they earn, but that’s the way it goes,” Wells said.

Mariano Rivera matched his career high with his 50th save as the Yankees held their 41/2-game lead over Boston in the AL East and stopped Toronto’s three-game winning string.

Giambi had been 0-for-32, with 11 of those at-bats coming since he returned from the disabled list after being diagnosed with a benign tumor. Manager Joe Torre kept the former AL MVP on the bench the previous three games, but started him this time because he had good career numbers against Roy Halladay.

Batting seventh for the first time this season, Giambi went the opposite way for a two-run shot to left-center in the second. Torre clapped in the dugout while Derek Jeter and several teammates came out to greet the slugger. Giambi later added a sacrifice fly.

New York pitcher Esteban Loaiza acknowledges the crowd as he leaves the game. Loaiza earned his 100th career win as the Yankees defeated Toronto, 5-3, Tuesday in New York.

“Everybody is pulling for him,” Torre said. “Sometimes when everyone is pulling for you, you try too hard. It doesn’t always turn out that way.”

With less than two weeks left in the regular season, Torre is still deciding whether Giambi is swinging well enough to make the postseason roster. Giambi’s 12th home run was his first since June 20 against Los Angeles closer Eric Gagne.

“Now, it’s just backing it up day after day,” Giambi said.

Loaiza (10-7) outpitched Halladay (7-8) after finishing runner-up to the Toronto ace last year in the AL Cy Young Award voting.

Halladay came off the disabled list to make this start and left after four innings trailing 3-2 — it was his first outing since July 16, when he went on the DL for the second time this season because of a tired right shoulder.

Loaiza started for the first time since Aug. 27, having been banished to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness. He won No. 100 on his seventh try.

Red Sox 3, Orioles 2

Boston — Mark Bellhorn singled in two runs in the bottom of the ninth as Boston rallied over Baltimore, snapping a three-game losing streak after nearly blowing the game in the top of the inning. Curt Schilling cruised through eight innings, striking out a season-high 14 as he went for his major league-leading 21st victory.

Given a 1-0 lead on Kevin Millar’s sacrifice fly in the eighth, Keith Foulke (4-3) gave up Javy Lopez’s two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth.

Boston, the AL wild-card leader, managed to keep pace with the New York Yankees, who beat Toronto, 5-3, to preserve their 41/2-game lead in the AL East. The Red Sox and Yankees will play three times this weekend at Fenway Park.

Rangers 9, Athletics 4

Arlington, Texas — Michael Young hit a grand slam, Mark Teixeira had a two-run double, and Texas beat All-Star starter Mark Mulder for the second time in a week. Texas pulled within four games of the Athletics with 12 to play.

While the September struggles of Mulder continued, Ryan Drese (14-8) won his third straight start even though he allowed four runs in 52/3 innings. Mulder (17-6) didn’t make it out of the fifth, allowing nine runs — five earned — on eight hits with two walks and two hit batters. The left-hander is 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA in four starts this month.

Mariners 7, Angels 3

Anaheim, Calif. — Ichiro Suzuki went 5-for-5 to pull within 14 hits of George Sisler’s major league season record of 257, and Seattle beat Anaheim. Anaheim remained 21/2 games behind Oakland in the AL West and dropped 51/2 games behind Boston in the wild-card race.

Suzuki singled every time up for his fourth five-hit game of the season and his major league career, and raised his batting average to .372, taking over the major league lead from San Francisco’s Barry Bonds (.369). Suzuki has 11 games left to break the record Sisler set in 154 games with the 1920 St. Louis Browns.

White Sox 8, Twins 6

Chicago — Paul Konerko hit his 40th home run of the season, and Juan Uribe had his first career grand slam, a pinch-hit shot in the seventh inning that sent Chicago over Minnesota. Ross Gload and Aaron Rowand also drove in runs for the White Sox, who snapped a seven-game losing streak against the AL Central-champion Twins.

Indians 8, Tigers 7

Detroit — Casey Blake’s bloop single broke a ninth-inning tie and gave Cleveland a victory over Detroit. The Indians trailed 7-2 after five innings before rallying behind five RBIs from Ben Broussard.