Jason Giambi came off the bench to hit a tying home run in the seventh inning and the winning single in the ninth for the New York Yankees to beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 in the American League on Thursday. Desperate to get back in the playoff race, New York salvaged the finale of a three-game series and won Boston's final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium. Mariano Rivera (5-5) entered a tie game in the eighth and pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings for the win, helping the Yankees overcome another poor performance by Alex Rodriguez. Rested against lefty Jon Lester, Giambi pinch hit with two outs in the seventh and connected for a two-run homer off Hideki Okajima that tied the score 2-all. Justin Masterson (4-4) loaded the bases in the ninth, and Giambi lined Jonathan Papelbon's 0-2 pitch, driving in pinch-runner Brett Gardner with the winning run. Rays 3, Blue Jays 2: At St. Petersburg, Florida, Edwin Jackson took a shutout into the eighth inning, Cliff Floyd and Willy Aybar each homered and the Rays guaranteed they will lose no worse than they win for the first time in franchise history. Tampa Bay, 81-51 and an AL-best 49-19 at home, is 11-1-0 in series play since the All-Star break. Jackson (11-8) gave up one run and six hits over seven-plus innings. Floyd put Tampa Bay up 2-0 with a first-inning sacrifice fly and a solo homer in the third, and Tampa Bay took a 3-0 lead when Aybar homered off Jesse Litsch (9-8) in the sixth. Aybar, who entered in an 1-for-16 slide, had three hits in four at-bats. Angels 7, Rangers 5: At Anaheim, California, pinch-hitter Juan Rivera doubled off the wall in right-center to drive in three runs in a five-run eighth inning and help Los Angeles Angels rally to a win over Texas. The Angels' Jon Garland (12-8) pitched eight innings, allowing five runs and eight hits. He struck out three and walked one. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 51st save in 56 chances, six saves short of Bobby Thigpen's major league record set in 1990. Jamey Wright (6-6) replaced starter Brandon McCarthy to start the eighth with the Rangers leading 5-2. Wright allowed two singles, two walks, and was charged with four runs. Athletics 3, Twins 2: At Oakland, California, pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning to give Oakland a win over Minnesota and back-to-back victories for first time since July 10-11. Ramirez powers Cubs In Chicago, Aramis Ramirez's grand slam capped a five-run eighth inning as the Chicago Cubs rallied for a dramatic 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and their sixth straight win in the National League on Thursday. Behind a strong performance from Cole Hamels, Philadelphia had a 4-1 lead heading into the eighth. Hamels had given up just a run and five hits in seven strong innings before the Phillies' bullpen collapsed. Elsewhere it was: Nationals 11, Dodgers 2; Astros 3, Reds 2; Braves 4, Marlins 2.
