ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Carlos Pena homered and drove in four runs — with help from a replay reversal — and the Tampa Bay Rays routed the Minnesota Twins 11-1 on Friday night to close in on clinching the first playoff berth in franchise history.

The AL East leaders moved within one win of wrapping up at least a wild-card spot, with Pena’s fourth-inning homer coming on the first reversal produced by baseball’s instant replay system. It was originally ruled a double before umpires went to the video.

Tampa Bay remained 11⁄2 games ahead of second-place Boston.

The Rays can earn a postseason berth for the first time in their 11 seasons by winning one of two remaining games in this series against Minnesota, which fell 21⁄2 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.

Edwin Jackson (12-11) allowed one run and seven hits in 7 2-3 innings. Evan Longoria drove in three runs for Tampa Bay.

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

TORONTO — Jason Varitek drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Boston moved one step closer to a playoff berth by beating Toronto.

Boston opened a 71⁄2-game lead in the wild-card race over Minnesota and the New York Yankees. A win by the Red Sox on Saturday combined with losses by the Twins and Yankees would wrap up at least the wild-card spot for Boston.

The loss ended Toronto’s chances of winning the AL East. Another defeat — or a Boston win — would eliminate the Blue Jays from the playoff chase altogether.

White Sox 9, Royals 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam, Dewayne Wise homered twice and Mark Buehrle pitched six effective innings as Chicago beat Kansas City.

The loss snapped the Royals’ seven-game winning streak, their longest since starting the 2003 season 9-0.

Yankees 3, Orioles 2

NEW YORK — Brett Gardner made his bid for the last great catch at Yankee Stadium.

The rookie center fielder robbed Luke Scott with a terrific grab and doubled in a run, sparking New York to a victory over Baltimore in the opener of the final series at the 85-year-old ballpark.

Indians 6, Tigers 5

CLEVELAND — Jamey Carroll hit a game-winning single with one out in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a fight-filled victory over Detroit.

Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera hit a pair of two-run homers to tie Chicago’s Carlos Quentin for the AL lead with 36.

Angels 15, Rangers 13

ARLINGTON, Texas — Torii Hunter homered and drove in four runs, Kendry Morales and Mike Napoli hit back-to-back homers and Los Angeles set seasons highs for runs and hits (22) to beat Texas.

After Erick Aybar’s RBI single in the fifth tied the score at 9, Mark Teixeira had a two-run double that put the AL West champions ahead to stay.

Athletics 2, Mariners 0

OAKLAND, Calif. — Travis Buck homered for the first time since being called up from the minors, Dana Eveland pitched seven strong innings and Oakland handed Seattle its ninth straight loss.

The Mariners, shut out for the second consecutive game, haven’t scored in 26 innings. They have been blanked four times this season with Felix Hernandez (9-11) on the mound and 12 times overall.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Mets 9, Braves 5

ATLANTA — Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy delivered a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and New York regained first place in the NL East by beating Atlanta 9-5 on Friday night.

Jose Reyes hit a leadoff homer and had three hits to help the Mets move a half-game in front of Phila-delphia, which lost 14-8 at Florida.

New York overcame some shaky defense and improved to 1-6 this season at Turner Field, where the Phillies went 9-0.

Reyes scored three runs and drove in two. David Wright ended a 1-for-19 drought by going 2-for-5 with two RBIs, and Nick Evans added a solo home run.

Marlins 14, Phillies 8

MIAMI — Rookie Cameron Maybin had four hits for the second straight game and tied a franchise record by reaching base in 10 consecutive plate appearances for Florida, which tied a franchise record with their ninth consecutive win.

The Phillies had their season-best seven-game winning streak snapped and fell out of first place in the NL East.

Cardinals 12, Cubs 6

CHICAGO — Adam Kennedy capped a five-run first inning with a grand slam, and St. Louis beat Carlos Zambrano and Chicago, slowing the Cubs’ march toward a second straight NL Central title.

Chicago clinched at least a tie for the division when Milwaukee lost 11-2 to Cincinnati.

After pitching the Cubs’ first no-hitter in 36 years Sunday against Houston in Milwaukee, Zambrano (14-6) allowed eight runs and six hits in 1 2-3 innings, his shortest outing in two years.

Reds 11, Brewers 2

CINCINNATI — Joey Votto and Jay Bruce both hit two homers and Cincinnati hit seven overall against Milwaukee’s tattered pitching staff.

Milwaukee’s 14th loss in 18 September games left the Cubs one victory — or a Milwaukee loss — from clinching their second straight NL Central title. The Brewers are 11⁄2 games behind Philadelphia in the wild-card race.

Giants 7, Dodgers 1

LOS ANGELES — Barry Zito took a shutout into the eighth inning for San Francisco.

Despite their fourth loss in 19 games, the Dodgers’ magic number for clinching the NL West was reduced to six because of Arizona’s 3-2 loss at Colorado. Los Angeles leads the Diamondbacks by 31⁄2 games with eight to play.

Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 2

DENVER — Jorge De La Rosa threw six solid innings and Chris Iannetta and Clint Barmes homered for Colorado.

The loss ended the Diamondbacks’ four-game winning streak but they remained 31⁄2 games behind the Dodgers in the division.

Astros 5, Pirates 1

PITTSBURGH — Randy Wolf allowed three hits in seven innings and Hunter Pence had two hits and three RBIs to help Houston snap a five-game losing streak.

Wolf (11-12) gave up one run and struck out seven to win for the third time in four starts this month. The left-hander beat the Pirates for the second time in 10 days and won his sixth straight decision against Pittsburgh.

Padres 11, Nationals 6, 14 innings

WASHINGTON — Chase Headley had four hits, including a tie-breaking triple that keyed San Diego’s five-run 14th inning.

It was a game between the teams with the worst records in the National League. Both began the game, which lasted 5 hours, tied with 58-95 marks.