Wednesday’s A.L. results

Yankees 12, Devil Rays 4: At St. Petersburg, Fla., New York clinched its 13th straight postseason appearance, beating Tampa Bay to assure itself of at least a wild-card berth in the playoffs. The victory, New York’s 15th in 20 games, eliminated defending A.L. champion Detroit from postseason contention and set up a probable first-round matchup with Cleveland, the Central champion. The Yankees are three games behind Boston with four games left, so New York’s streak of nine consecutive East titles is likely to end.

Tigers 9, Twins 4 (5): At Detroit, Mike Hessman hit a home run and an RBI single to lead the Tigers to a rain-shortened victory over Minnesota, a five-inning win that came just too late. The Tigers needed help from Tampa Bay to maintain their remote chances of earning a playoff bid.

Red Sox 11, Athletics 6: At Boston, Mike Lowell drove in five runs to lead the Red Sox’s revived hitting attack and Boston cut its magic number to clinch the East title to two with a win over Oakland.

Rangers 16, Angels 2: At Arlington, Texas, Sammy Sosa hit one of the Rangers’ five home runs in their home finale and last-place Texas wrapped up a three-game sweep with a victory over Los Angeles.

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5: At Baltimore, Matt Stairs and Adam Lind each had two RBIs during the most prolific first inning in Toronto history, an eight-run outburst that launched a victory over the Orioles.

White Sox 3, Royals 0: At Chicago, Jim Thome hit his 505th home run and Jon Garland pitched his first shutout of the season as the White Sox defeated Kansas City.

Associated Press