Yankees Have a Singles Party in 17-3 Victory

The New York Yankees played with purpose, nudging closer to first-place Boston in the American League East.

Jason Giambi hit his 30th homer and drove in five runs at St. Petersburg, Fla., to help the Yankees rout the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 17-3, Tuesday night to pull within 2 1/2 games of the Red Sox and also stay close to front-running Cleveland in the wild-card race.

“This is the fun time of the year,” said Giambi, who homered in his third game in a row. “This is what you play the whole season for.... If you don’t play [well] in September, there’s no October.”

Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada had four RBIs apiece, and the Yankees climbed a season-high 19 games over .500.

New York finished with 20 hits, 18 of them singles.

Jaret Wright (5-2) gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings, winning his third consecutive decision since coming off the disabled list Aug. 15. He had no decisions in his previous three starts.

“The Yankees flexed their muscles. What can I say?” Devil Ray Manager Lou Piniella said. “They came out swinging the bats and made a statement.”

Tampa Bay has been a troublesome opponent for the Yankees, winning 11 of 16 games between the teams before Tuesday night.

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Toronto 9, Boston 3 -- Gabe Gross hit his first home run in nearly a year during a five-run second inning for the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Toronto has won nine of 13 games against Boston. David Ortiz hit his 41st home run for the Red Sox.

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Chicago 6, Kansas City 4 -- Jose Contreras won his fifth consecutive start and the White Sox defeated the host Royals for the 13th time in 16 games.

Contreras (12-7) improved to 8-2 since the All-Star break. He gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.

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Minnesota 9, Detroit 3 -- Matthew LeCroy, Luis Rivas and Jason Bartlett homered for the Twins at Detroit.

Minnesota has won two in a row after losing five of six. The Tigers have lost 11 of 13.

Baltimore 4, Texas 3 -- Luis Matos drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the ninth inning at Arlington, Texas, and the Orioles won their fourth in a row.