Rays pound Red Sox

Willy Aybar, Gabe Gross and Fernando Perez homered off Tim Wakefield and the A.L. East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 10-3 Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., to move closer to their first playoff berth.

Matt Garza gave up two long home runs to David Ortiz, but the Rays otherwise held the Red Sox in check to win the season series against the defending World Series champions 10-8 and extend their division lead over them to two games.

Tampa Bay, which had never won more than 70 games in a season before this year, can clinch at least a wild-card playoff berth by beating Minnesota twice during a four-game series that begins today at Tropicana Field.

Other A.L. highlights

Yankees 5, White Sox 1: Alex Rodriguez homered to pass Babe Ruth and become the only player with 35 homers and 100 RBIs in 12 different seasons, and New York slowed visiting Chicago’s pursuit of the Central crown. The White Sox lead the second-place Twins by 21/2 games. The Yankees are eight games behind Boston in the wild-card race. The last time New York missed the playoffs, Bill Clinton was a first-year president and gasoline cost $1.13 a gallon.

Indians 6, Twins 4: Cliff Lee was denied his 23rd win with a no-decision against Minnesota – the only A.L. team to beat him this season – and host Cleveland completed a three-game sweep.

N.L. highlights

Brewers 6, Cubs 2: Milwaukee overcame the loss of injured starter Ben Sheets and, boosted by Prince Fielder’s three-run double, beat host Chicago to end a five-game losing streak. The Brewers remained one-half game behind the Mets in the wild-card race. Sheets left after two innings with tightness in his right forearm.

Phillies 6, Braves 1: Ryan Howard drove in the first run in Philadelphia’s four-run first inning, and rookie J.A. Happ pitched six scoreless innings to help the visiting Phillies beat Atlanta for their season-high sixth straight win. Philadelphia held on to their half-game lead over the Mets in the East Division.

Mets 9, Nationals 7: Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado also homered, and New York built a big lead then held on to beat host Washington.

Pirates 15, Dodgers 8: Adam LaRoche hit a grand slam among his two homers and Pittsburgh used an eight-run seventh inning to beat visiting Los Angeles. The Dodgers saw their lead in the West shrink to 31/2 games over Arizona.

Diamondbacks 7, Giants 6: Brandon Webb pitched seven solid innings to earn his 21st victory and added a key two-run double as Arizona held off San Francisco in Phoenix for its third straight win.

Clearing the bases

The Houston Astros will donate $1 million to help with Hurricane Ike relief efforts. … White Sox left fielder Carlos Quentin had the soft cast removed from his broken right wrist, an encouraging sign the MVP candidate could return for the postseason. … Oakland second baseman Mark Ellis will undergo season-ending surgery on his ailing right shoulder. … Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young, Ronnie Belliard and Jesus Flores are being shut down by the Nationals for the rest of the season because of injuries. … Texas minor league pitcher Miguel Munoz was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.