Devil Rays 7, Yankees 6, 10 innings

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Hold the champagne. Another big home run by Alex Rodriguez wasn’t enough to help the New York Yankees clinch a 13th straight playoff appearance.

Jorge Velandia hit a grand slam for his first career homer, and Dioner Navarro added a solo shot in the 10th inning to lead the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over New York 7-6 and prevent the Yankees from clinching a playoff berth on Tuesday night.

Coupled with Boston’s 7-3 victory over Oakland, New York fell three games behind the first-place Red Sox in the AL East with five games to play. The Yankees lead Detroit by 41â2 games in the wild-card race.

Tigers 8, Twins 0

Detroit – On the brink of being eliminated from the playoffs, Magglio Ordonez and Detroit hit, pitched and fielded as if something was at stake. Ordonez homered and doubled, and Yorman Bazardo threw seven scoreless innings.

Ordonez’s double in the three-run sixth marked the Tigers’ 2,550th total base, surpassing the previous franchise record set by the 1987 team that went to the AL championship series. His 28th homer – a 437-foot liner over the left-field wall – gave him a career-high 136 RBIs and put Detroit ahead 6-0 in the seventh.

Red Sox 7, Athletics 3

Boston – Manny Ramirez returned to the Boston Red Sox lineup after a 24-game absence. After being sidelined by a strained muscle in his left side, Ramirez singled and scored Boston’s first run in the first inning, then walked to start a two-run fifth.

Rangers 3, Angels 1

Arlington, Texas – Hank Blalock singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. Texas, coming off an 8-7 victory over the Angels on Monday, trailed 1-0 when Ian Kinsler led off the sixth with his third single of the game.

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 4

Baltimore – Frank Thomas went 4-for-4, including his 513th home run, and drove in three runs to lead Toronto past Baltimore. Thomas gave Toronto a 6-0 lead in the third inning with a three-run drive off Brian Burres. The 39-year-old designated hitter scored three runs, and his four hits matched a season high. Thomas needs six RBIs over the final five games to reach 100 in a season for the 12th time.

Aaron Hill hit his 17th homer for the Blue Jays, matching Roberto Alomar’s 1993 club record for a second baseman.

A.J. Burnett (10-7) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking three. The right-hander is 5-0 in six career starts against Baltimore.

Miguel Tejada had three hits for the Orioles, who have yielded at least 10 runs in 17 games this season – including nine of the last 34.