Yankees Alone Atop Wild-Card Heap

Their closer gave up the go-ahead run, and the winning hit came from a player who was not supposed to get an at-bat.

New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre would have preferred an easier route to the win that moved New York into sole possession of the AL wild-card lead.

Felix Escalona’s bases-loaded single with two out in the ninth inning gave the Yankees a 5-4 victory over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night. New York is percentage points ahead of Cleveland for the wild-card lead.

Hideki Matsui hit a tying homer in the ninth, and Derek Jeter had two hits in his return to the lineup for the Yankees, who scored in each of the final four innings to reach 14 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Escalona went in to play first base after Tino Martinez left for a pinch runner in the eighth inning. Torre inserted Escalona into the No. 2 spot in the batting order, which meant he was the seventh batter up in the ninth.

“Shows you how smart the manager is,” Torre said. “You put him in that spot so he won’t have to come up.”

New York had been tied for the wild-card lead with Oakland, which lost at Detroit. Cleveland is less than a percentage point behind New York.

Toronto took a 4-3 lead against Mariano Rivera (6-3) in the ninth.

Minnesota 1, Chicago 0 -- Jacque Jones ended Freddy Garcia’s no-hit bid with a home run to lead off the eighth inning to help Johan Santana and the Twins win at Minneapolis.

Santana (13-6) gave up three hits and walked one in eight innings, striking out seven to beat Garcia. Garcia (11-6) walked two and struck out three in eight innings. Jones’ homer was Minnesota’s only hit.

Detroit 4, Oakland 1 -- Carlos Pena hit two home runs, and Nate Robertson (6-10) won for the first time since July 20 in handing the visiting Athletics’ their seventh loss in their last eight games.

Cleveland 5, Tampa Bay 4 -- Coco Crisp hit a two-run triple in a three-run seventh inning, and the Indians extended their winning streak to six by overcoming a four-run deficit at St. Petersburg, Fla. Cleveland won its ninth road game in a row.

Boston 5, Kansas City 2 -- David Wells and the visiting Red Sox maintained their mastery of the Royals, ending their two-game winning streak that followed a team-record 19 losses in a row. Kansas has still lost a team-record nine in a row at home.

Wells (10-6) beat the Royals for the 11th consecutive time, raising his record against Kansas City to 16-3.

Texas 6, Seattle 4 -- Kevin Mench had three hits, including his 21st home run, and rookie Chris Young (11-7) won his third in a row to help the Rangers win at Arlington, Texas.