BOSTON — The New York Yankees have little left to play for this season, so the chance to deprive the Boston Red Sox of a division title is worth waiting around for.

Playing a lineup loaded with backups in an unusually meaningless matchup with their longtime rivals, the Yankees waited out 2 hours, 9 minutes of rain delays on Friday night to beat Boston 19-8 and clinch for the Tampa Bay Rays their first AL East title.

Cody Ransom pinch hit for Derek Jeter and went 3-for-3 with two homers, Robinson Cano tied a career-high with five RBIs and Brett Gardner had a career-high four RBIs for the Yankees.

With the loss on Friday night, Boston will face the Los Angeles Angels in the first round of the playoffs.

Tigers 6, Rays 4

DETROIT — Gary Sheffield hit two home runs and Ramon Santiago also went deep to lift Detroit to a win over Tampa Bay, which clinched the AL East when Boston lost.

Sheffield has 499 career home runs and Santiago homered for the third time in two days.

B.J. Upton homered and drove in two runs for the Rays.

Royals 8, Twins 1

MINNEAPOLIS — A night after erasing a five-run deficit against the White Sox to reclaim first place in the AL Central, the Twins fell flat in an loss to the surging Royals.

Kansas City hammered Francisco Liriano (6-4) for six runs and 11 hits in 4 1-3 innings.

Indians 11, White Sox 8

CHICAGO — Ryan Garko and Cleveland kept struggling Chicago in second place.

Garko homered twice, including a grand slam in a six-run fifth inning, and had five RBIs to help the Indians send the White Sox to their fourth straight loss.

Chicago missed a chance to move back into first in the AL Central when Minnesota lost at home to Kansas City, 8-1. Instead, they remained a half game behind Minnesota.

The White Sox have two games left against the Indians and possibly a makeup game Monday against Detroit, if needed.

Rangers 12, Angels 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Hank Blalock homered in his fifth straight game to trigger a seven-run second inning against John Lackey and Texas routed AL West champion Los Angeles.

Despite their second-most lopsided defeat of the season, the Angels (99-61) mathematically clinched the best record in the majors for the first time in the franchise’s 48-year history.

Blue Jays 3, Orioles 0,   7 innings

BALTIMORE — Scott Richmond pitched six innings of four-hit ball to earn his first major league victory and Toronto handed Baltimore its 10th straight loss, winning in a game halted by rain in the seventh.

Curtis Thigpen hit his first big league homer in the seventh, minutes before rain forced a stoppage in play.

After a delay of 1 hour, 5 minutes, umpires called the game.

Mariners 10, Athletics 8

SEATTLE — Jose Lopez ignited a pair of five-run innings for Seattle with two homers, Rob Johnson added his first career home run and the Mariners beat Oakland.

Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki also added another milestone to his impressive resume as the Mariners won for just the second time in the last 16 games.

Suzuki matched Lou Gehrig’s major league record with his eighth season of at least 200 hits and 100 runs. Suzuki scored for the 100th time in the third inning on Raul Ibanez’s RBI single.

Brandon Morrow (3-4) was all over the strike zone in his final appearance of the season. Making just his fifth start, Morrow threw a career-high 114 pitches and matched his highs with five walks and eight strike outs.

Oakland starter Sean Gallagher (2-3) was tagged for 10 hits and eight earned runs, failing to finish the fifth inning.