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Yankees crush Devil Rays, clinch playoff spot

Sep 27, 2007 - 3:47 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- This time, the New York Yankees weren't going to be denied in their playoff quest.

With owner George Steinbrenner looking on, the Yankees crushed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 12-4, on Wednesday to clinch a playoff berth for the 13th consecutive season.

In an offensive showcase, Robinson Cano had a home run and five RBI, Derek Jeter homered, Doug Mientkiewicz had a career high-tying four hits and Jorge Posada added three RBI, leading New York to victory one night after it blew a 5-0 lead in a 7-6 loss here.

Tampa Bay grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Yankees responded with two runs in the fourth, seven in the fifth and three in the sixth, much to the delight of the Tropicana Field crowd - at least half of which was rooting for New York.

"We need to believe in ourselves and have energy," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We never stopped believing all year. The most important thing for me is you can't concern yourself with what other people think of you. I can't say enough about the passion of these players.

"In the playoffs, we need to pitch and we need luck. Hopefully we can get a good result."

Despite the win, the Yankees (91-67) remain a long shot to catch the Boston Red Sox (94-64) for the American League East title. They trail the Red Sox by three games with four remaining.

"It was an unbelievable ride and I could not be more proud of every member of this team," Alex Rodriguez said. "We went through a lot of adversity and a lot of people counted us out."

Jeter started the onslaught with a solo home run in the fourth and Cano added an RBI groundout.

In the seven-run fifth, Jeter had a sacrifice fly, Posada a two-run single, Cano a three-run home run and Mientkiewicz an RBI double.

Bobby Abreu, Cano and Posada also had RBI singles in the sixth.

"It's been the most difficult one, we really battled," Jeter said. "You play the season for a reason. We didn't hang our heads and we continued to battle all season long."

Chien-Ming Wang (19-7) scattered seven hits in six innings, allowing two earned runs with three walks and six strikeouts to reach 19 wins for the second consecutive season.

"You see the Yankees out there celebrating and you want to be them," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "I really expect us to be the guys out there celebrating in a couple of years."

Carlos Pena accounted for the first two Devil Rays' runs with a first-inning sacrifice fly and a fifth-inning solo home run. It was Pena's 43rd home run of the season, and the two RBI brought his season total to 118, breaking Jorge Cantu's franchise record of 117 set in 2005.

"I'm excited," Pena said. "It's a really cool thing. You don't go out there trying to do it. You keep it simple. I can't begin to tell you how blessed you feel."

J.P. Howell (1-6) started for Tampa Bay and was rocked for nine runs - eight earned - in 4 2/3 innings while walking three and striking out four. The 24-year-old lefthander earned his lone win of the season on June 3.

"Nice start, just a bad inning," Howell said. "I left the ball up a bit. I felt really good for four innings."

The two teams finish the season series on Thursday with the Yankees holding a slim 9-8 advantage over the Devil Rays in 2007.