Yankees Stage Rally To Close In On Title

American League

The New York Yankees lowered their magic number for clinching the A.L. East to five, overcoming a five-run deficit Saturday to beat the Boston Red Sox 12-11 on Derek Jeter’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning.

New York trailed 6-1, 8-4 and 11-7, but finally tied the score 11-all in the eighth on Paul O’Neill’s fourth hit of the game, a liner to second that could have been an inning-ending double play. The ball popped out of Jeff Frye’s glove as pinch-runner Andy Fox scored.

Wade Boggs singled leading off the 10th against Joe Hudson (3-5), Boston’s seventh pitcher, and took second on Ruben Rivera’s sacrifice. Cecil Fielder walked, Tino Martinez flied out and Bernie Williams walked, loading the bases. Jeter then singled up the middle.

Rangers 7, Angels 1 Anaheim, Calif.

Texas finally stopped its slide by beating Jim Abbott and California to end a five-game losing skid.

John Burkett pitched eight strong innings, and Rusty Greer homered in his return to the starting lineup as the Rangers assured themselves of remaining alone atop the A.L. West for at least another day.

The win was only the Rangers’ second in their last 11 games.

Twins 4, White Sox 3 Chicago

Frank Thomas reached the 40-homer mark for the third time in his career, but struck out in a key spot in the seventh inning as Minnesota beat Chicago.

Thomas came up with runners on first and second in the seventh. Mike Trombley struck out the White Sox slugger, preserving a 4-3 lead.

Orioles 6, Blue Jays 3 Baltimore

Eddie Murray’s 19th career grand slam capped a six-run sixth inning that powered Baltimore past Toronto, keeping the Orioles within four games of first place in the A.L. East.

The Orioles had only two hits - both in the pivotal sixth inning, when they also drew five walks.

Murray’s second grand slam of the season moved the 40-year-old slugger ahead of Willie McCovey into second place on the career list, four behind leader Lou Gehrig. It also gave him 75 RBIs for a 20th straight season, breaking the mark set by Hank Aaron.

Brewers 13, Tigers 6 Milwaukee

Jeromy Burnitz hit a grand slam and Jose Valentin added a three-run homer, leading Milwaukee to a win over the Detroit, which set a major league record for striking out in a season.

When Melvin Nieves struck out in the sixth it was the Tigers’ 1,204th strikeout this season, breaking the mark held by the 1968 New York Mets.

Indians 13, Royals 4 Cleveland

Jim Thome hit his 37th homer and Tony Pena broke an 0-for-24 slump with three singles, leading Cleveland over Kansas City.

Ranger fans cautious

The Texas Rangers, who haven’t been in a playoff game in franchise history, sold some 13,000 playoff tickets Saturday even as the team’s A.L. West lead withered away on the West Coast.

Perhaps an indication of the team’s shaky performance recently, nearly 4,000 tickets remained for American League divisional playoffs as The Ballpark’s box office closed for the day.

Clearing the bases

New York stranded 17 baserunners in the first nine innings. The nine-inning record of 20 was set by the Yankees against the Red Sox in 1956. … Jim Thome’s 37 homers are the second-most by a lefty hitter in Cleveland history. Hal Trosky hit 42 in 1936.

Chicago’s Frank Thomas is one home run shy of the White Sox record for home runs that he set with 41 in 1993. He also hit 40 in 1995, getting No. 40 on the last day of the season. … Roberto Alomar went 0 for 3 and is hitting .194 (12-for-62) in September. His average dropped from .347 to .330.