Power surge for Giambi, Yankees
Jason Giambi hit his 30th homer and drove in five runs, helping the New York Yankees rout the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 17-3, last night in St. Petersburg, Fla., to nudge closer to the Red Sox in the East.
Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada had four RBIs apiece, and the Yankees climbed a season-high 19 games over .500 to pull within 2 1/2 games of Boston.
Jaret Wright (5-2) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings, winning his third straight decision since coming off the disabled list Aug. 15. He had no decisions in his previous three starts.
Giambi had a three-run homer in the first and a two-run single in the sixth, when New York scored seven runs and batted around for the third time in the game. The Yankees had 20 hits, 18 singles.
After getting just 12 homers and 40 RBIs during an illness-filled 2004 season, he has reached 30 homers for the sixth time in his career and driven in 79 runs.
Matsui went 4 for 4 with a two-run double and two-run single. Posada drew a bases-loaded walk in the first, then followed with a RBI single in the second and two-run single in the sixth.
Tampa Bay has been a troublesome opponent for the Yankees, winning 11 of 17 games between the teams.
The Yankees scored five times in the first and added five more runs in the second, with the first seven batters reaching base in each inning against Doug Waechter (5-10) and Dewon Brazelton.
Indians 5, Athletics 2 -- Ben Broussard's second homer of the game, a tiebreaking three-run shot in the eighth inning, sent host Cleveland over Oakland and kept the Indians in control of the wild-card race.
Cleveland was down, 2-0, in the seventh when Broussard hit a two-run homer.
The Indians lead the Yankees for the wild card by one game. They moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the Athletics.
Kevin Millwood (8-11) allowed one run and seven hits while lowering his league-leading ERA to 3.02, and Bob Wickman earned his AL-leading 40th save.
Mariners 2, Angels 1 -- Greg Dobbs singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, enabling host Seattle to prevent Los Angeles from widening its lead over Oakland in the West.
The Angels lost dropped their second straight to Seattle but still lead the Athletics by one game.
White Sox 6, Royals 4 -- Jose Contreras won his fifth straight start and Chicago beat host Kansas City for the 13th time in 16 games this season.
The White Sox maintained a six-game lead over Cleveland in the Central.
Twins 9, Tigers 3 -- Matthew LeCroy, Luis Rivas, and Jason Bartlett hit home runs and visiting Minnesota whipped Detroit.
Orioles 4, Rangers 3 -- In Arlington, Texas, Luis Matos drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the ninth inning and Baltimore won its fourth straight.
