Yankees claim fifth straight victory in AL

Reuters, Detroit

The New York Yankees clinched their fifth straight American League (AL) East divisional title with a 3-2 victory over the Tigers on Saturday.

The four-time defending AL champions got three hits from Jorge Posada as they advanced to the post-season for the eighth consecutive year.

Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte (12-5) tossed a five- hitter over seven innings, allowing two runs while striking out six and walking two, for the win.

Mariano Rivera returned from the disabled list after missing a month and pitched a perfect eighth inning, while Steve Karsay tossed a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

The Yankees scored all three of their runs in the fifth innings courtesy of a RBI single from Robin Ventura and two-run double from Nick Johnson.

Jason Beverlin (0-2) allowed three runs on three hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked two as the Tigers lost their 100th game of the season.

At Oakland, Greg Myers pinch-hit RBI single broke a 3-3 tie and keyed a three-run eighth inning as the Oakland Athletics took a two-game lead in the AL West with a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers.

At Seattle, a costly throwing error by Troy Glaus allowed three runs to score and led to four unearned runs in the fifth inning as the Mariners had a 6-4 victory over the Anaheim Angels.

At Chicago, Magglio Ordonez homered and drove in four runs and Carlos Lee belted a grand slam to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 14-4 thrashing of the Minnesota Twins.

At Baltimore, John Burkett pitched eight scoreless innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 3-0 shutout over the Orioles.

At Tampa Bay, Carl Crawford's eighth inning RBI double helped the Devil Rays to a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

At Kansas City, Michael Tucker drove in the game winning run with a ninth-inning single to help the Royals edge th the Cleveland Indians 3-2.

Meanwhile, Kenny Lofton and Rich Aurilia hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers and keep alive their playoff hopes on Saturday.

At Houston, Wade Miller won his 12th straight decision as the Astros defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3, keeping their faint NL wild card hopes alive.

At San Diego, the Los Angeles Dodgers stayed in the hunt for the wild card with a 5-3 victory over the Padres.

At New York, Esix Snead's first major league home run was a three-run blast in the bottom of the 11th inning that gave the Mets a 6-3 win over the Montreal Expos.

At Colorado, the Rockies reduced two four-run deficits and scored seven runs in the seventh inning to thrash the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-8.

At Cincinnati, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the hometown Reds in extra innings twice to claim both games of a doubleheader.

At Atlanta, Kevin Millar had three hits and drove in a run to spark the Florida Marlins past the Atlanta Braves 6-4. The Marlins scored five runs in the sixth inning.