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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- The last-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays
refused to let the New York Yankees celebrate on their home turf.
|  | | Bryan Rekar pitched seven strong innings for the Rays, picking up his seventh win of the year. |
Bryan Rekar (7-10) pitched seven strong innings and Ozzie Timmons, Aubrey Huff and Bobby Smith homered off Roger Clemens as
the Devil Rays won 11-3 Thursday night to complete a three-game
sweep that prevented the two-time World Series champions from
clinching another AL East title.
The loss was the fourth straight and 12th in 15 games for the
reeling Yankees, outscored 24-5 in the series and 108-50 during the
baffling stretch, which includes six games in which they've given
up 10 runs or more.
"Everything's going wrong," designated hitter Jose Canseco
said. "I mean every single little thing."
New York began the night needing a victory or losses by Toronto
and Boston to clinch their fourth division title in five years. The
Blue Jays were eliminated by a 23-1 loss to Baltimore, but the Red Sox remained
alive by winning at Chicago, closing to 3½ games behind the
Yankees.
"Unfortunately, we're making other people do our job," Yankees
manager Joe Torre said. "Sure, you like that. But that's not what
you want to rely on. Our job is to win, and that's what we need to
do for more reasons than just clinching."
The Devil Rays could continue to have an impact on the race this
weekend with the Red Sox coming to town for three games. They open a
three-game series at Baltimore on Friday night.
Tampa Bay won three of four from Toronto before sweeping the
Yankees for the first time in franchise history. Preventing New
York from celebrating the division title at Tropicana Field was
especially sweet because Yankees owner George Steinbrenner lives in
Tampa and the team uses the city as its spring training base.
"People can say whatever they want to say, but you never want
to see that happen," said Tampa Bay's Mike DiFelice, who hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning. "It's just nice that we
prolonged it a little bit. We could have laid down. It's nice that we haven't."
Steinbrenner left Tropicana Field before the game was over, and
the Yankees headed to the airport for their flight to Baltimore
without knowing about Boston's win.
"Who cares what Boston does? That's the bottom line," Derek Jeter said. "We have to win. I could care less if they win or lose. If we don't win, we don't go anywhere. We can't sit around
wondering what Boston did."
Clemens (13-8) allowed six runs and seven hits in four innings.
Timmons homered for the second straight night in the second, and
Huff and Smith hit back-to-back homers off the Yankees starter for
a 6-1 lead in the fourth.
Tampa Bay homered three times in an 11-1 victory Wednesday
night, and the first sign it was going to be another long night for
the Yankees was in the second inning, when Canseco walked and Tino
Martinez doubled before both were thrown out at the plate during a
bizarre sequence.
Gerald Williams chased down Martinez's hit off the wall in
center, turned and threw to shortstop Felix Martinez, who relayed
the ball to DiFelice to catch a sliding Canseco trying to score
from first base.
Martinez took off for third on the throw to plate and
headed home when DiFelice's throw skipped past Huff, the Devil
Rays' third baseman, into foul territory. Huff retrieved the ball
and threw to the plate to get Martinez, bailing Rekar out of a
potential jam.
The bottom of the second didn't go well, either.
Fred McGriff drew a leadoff walk before Timmons lined his fourth
homer into the left-field stands for a 2-0 lead. Randy Winn's RBI
single made it 3-1 in the third and the back-to-back homers by Huff
and Smith added three more runs in the fourth.
Clemens, who until Tuesday had been questionable to make his
scheduled start because of a bruised right hamstring, lost for just
the second time in 11 decisions since coming off the disabled list
against Tampa Bay on July 2.
Rekar yielded Derek Jeter's RBI single in the third, but didn't
allow a New York runner past first after that, beating the Yankees
for the first time in five career decisions.
Bernie Williams drove in New York's second run with an
eighth-inning double off Doug Creek. Glenallen Hill, added a solo
homer in the ninth off Trevor Enders.
Game notes
The Yankees finished 6-6 against the Devil Rays after going
11-1 and 9-4 against them the previous two seasons. ... Tampa Bay
homered for the 10th straight game, a team record. ... The Devil
Rays are 6-1 in the last seven games after losing 16 of their first
18 games this month. ... The Yankees have lost 17 of their last 18
games when scoring three runs or fewer. ... Clemens (3,504) moved
within four strikeouts of Walter Johnson for seventh on the career
list.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
Yanks, A's may play makeup games on Monday
RECAPS
Anaheim 6
Oakland 3
Texas 13
Seattle 6
Baltimore 23
Toronto 1
Minnesota 4
Cleveland 3
Tampa Bay 11
NY Yankees 3
Boston 7
Chi. White Sox 6
Kansas City 8
Detroit 5
Florida 7
Montreal 4
Philadelphia 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Arizona 12
Colorado 3
Cincinnati 8
Milwaukee 1
St. Louis 7
San Diego 6
Pittsburgh 3
Houston 2
NY Mets 8
Atlanta 2
San Francisco 5
Los Angeles 3
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