Champagne Is There to Ease Yankees’ Pain

On a night they allowed a 10-run inning and absorbed their fifth consecutive defeat, the New York Yankees backed into their third consecutive American League East title.

The Yankees walked off the field to celebrate another trip to the playoffs despite losing, 13-2, to the Orioles at Baltimore Friday night.

Although the Yankees have lost 13 of 16 and dropped their last three games by a combined 35-6 score, they clinched because the Boston Red Sox lost.

The Yankees, two-time defending World Series champions, will enter the postseason coming off the 38th first-place finish in franchise history.

The Boston loss was posted on the scoreboard with the Yankees batting in the ninth. Some Yankees fans at Camden Yards stood and cheered the result.

The Yankees weren’t sure if they would celebrate until Manager Joe Torre started the festivities.

“They were waiting to see what my lead was,” Torre said. “I said if Boston loses, we’re going to pour some champagne. I think the season is what we’re celebrating, not tonight.”

Chris Richard hit two homers for the Orioles, including a three-run shot in the Orioles’ record-setting 10-run second. Cal Ripken also homered, his first since returning from a two-month stint on the disabled list Sept. 1.

Baltimore’s Chuck McElroy (3-0), making his second straight start after 603 relief appearances, allowed three hits in six innings, the longest stint of his career.

The Orioles set an AL mark with their second 10-run inning in as many games, following up their team-record outburst in the fourth against Toronto on Thursday.

On Friday, they scored 10 runs against Andy Pettitte (19-9) and Dwight Gooden in the second.

Tampa Bay 8, Boston 6--The Devil Rays ended the Red Sox’s hopes of catching the Yankees in the East by rallying from a four-run deficit at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Randy Winn’s two-run double off Jeff Fassero broke a seventh-inning tie as Tampa Bay won its sixth consecutive game against teams battling for playoff spots.

Cleveland 8, Toronto 4--Manny Ramirez hit a two-run homer and Jim Thome added a two-run shot as the Indians stayed alive in the AL wild-card chase by rallying to beat the Blue Jays at Cleveland.

The Indians trailed 4-0 in the second inning. Justin Speier (5-2) pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, Tom Martin pitched one inning and Steve Karsay worked three perfect innings for his 20th saves as Toronto had only one hit over the final 7 1/3 innings.

“Nobody wants to quit,” Karsay said. “Nobody will quit. We still have life. This team has been through a lot this year. And as long as we’re not officially eliminated we’ve got to hope.”

Time is running out for Cleveland, which has just two games left and--realistically--needs to win them both if it hopes to make the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.

Chicago 6, Kansas City 4--Magglio Ordonez hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run with two outs in the seventh at Chicago, and the White Sox ended a five-game losing streak, winning for the first since clinching the AL Central on Sunday.

Detroit 1, Minnesota 0--Jeff Weaver came within one out of his first major league shutout. He was pulled after the Twins’ Doug Mientkiewicz singled with two outs in the ninth at Detroit.

Weaver (11-15) gave up six hits.

Mientkiewicz, who helped lead the U.S. to the Olympic gold medal earlier this week, was two for four in his first big league game of the season. He batted .334 at triple-A Salt Lake City before joining the Olympic team.