Gordon Helps Boston Clinch Wild-Card Tie

Give closer Tom Gordon a lead and he’ll give the Boston Red Sox a win. And, almost certainly, their first playoff berth since 1995.

Gordon tied the major league record of 41 consecutive saves as the Red Sox clinched a tie for the wild-card berth with a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday night at Boston. “It wasn’t one of my goals and I haven’t thought about it much,” Gordon said of the record. “The important thing is to make the playoffs.”

Boston can clinch a playoff berth tonight by beating Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series.

To tie the Red Sox for the wild card, the Toronto Blue Jays must win their last three games and Boston must lose its last four.

Toronto 6, Baltimore 3--Kelvim Escobar beat former teammate Juan Guzman, and Carlos Delgado and Shannon Stewart each hit two-run homers at Toronto as the Blue Jays avoided elimination in the wild-card race.

New York 8, Cleveland 4--Shane Spencer and Chad Curtis hit three-run homers at New York as the Yankees picked up victory No. 110, matching a club record set in 1927.

Minnesota 7, Chicago 6--Chris Latham’s two-out single in the 12th inning scored Paul Molitor with the winning run as the Twins rallied from a six-run deficit at Minnesota.

Detroit 5, Kansas City 1--Bryce Florie yielded three hits in seven innings and struck out nine at Kansas City in ending his six-game road losing streak.

Oakland 8, Seattle 3--Eric Chavez singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning at Seattle to help the A’s avoid clinching last place in the AL West.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 42nd home run, extending his AL home run record for shortstops.