Yankees 12, Devil Rays 4

St. Petersburg, Fla. – The New York Yankees clinched their 13th straight postseason appearance, beating Tampa Bay on Wednesday night to assure themselves of at least a wild-card berth.

The victory, New York’s 15th in 20 games, eliminated defending AL champion Detroit from postseason contention. The Yankees are three games behind Boston with four games left, so New York’s streak of nine consecutive AL East titles is likely to end.

Red Sox 11, Athletics 6

Boston – Mike Lowell drove in five runs, and Boston 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.

Tigers 9, Twins 4, 5 inn., rain

Detroit – Mike Hessman hit a home run and an RBI single to lead Detroit to the rain-shortened victory. The Tigers, the defending AL champions, needed help from Tampa Bay to maintain their remote chances of earning a postseason bid. But New York beat the Devil Rays to guarantee Detroit would be relegated to watching the playoffs.

Rangers 16, Angels 2

Arlington, Texas – Michael Young reached 200 hits for the fifth consecutive season, and Sammy Sosa hit one of Texas’ five home runs. Nelson Cruz, Gerald Laird, Travis Metcalf and Hank Blalock also homered.

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5

Baltimore – Matt Stairs and Adam Lind both had two RBIs during the most prolific first inning in Toronto history.

Indians 12-2, Mariners 4-3

Seattle – Closer Joe Borowski blew his second straight save opportunity in a 3-2, 10-inning loss in Game Two.

In the opener, Fausto Carmona won his 19th as the Indians routed Seattle 12-4.