Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees are struggling to get back into the playoff race while the Los Angeles Angels are closing in on another postseason berth.
Scott Kazmir allowed one hit in six scoreless innings, and Tampa Bay's bullpen weathered ninth-inning home runs by Rodriguez and Derek Jeter to hang on for a 7-5 victory Thursday night.
The Yankees' slim playoff hopes were dealt another blow. They trail the Rays by 11 games in the AL East and Boston by 7 1/2 in the wild-card race.
``We're not looking at series,'' Rodriguez said. ``We're looking at games as must-win games, and that's the situation tomorrow. It's almost like college. Double-elimination and you go home. That has to be the approach. Urgent.''
The Angels trimmed their magic number to six for clinching their fourth AL West title in five seasons, getting a home run from Torii Hunter in a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Ervin Santana (15-5) struck out eight in 7 1-3 innings, allowing one run and six hits.
In other AL games, Toronto beat Minnesota 9-0 and Kansas City swept a doubleheader against Oakland, winning the opener 5-4 in 10 innings and holding on for a 9-6 victory in the nightcap.
Mark Teixeira and Juan Rivera each drove in a pair of runs for the Angels, who broke open the game against Detroit with a four-run third inning.
Kenny Rogers (9-13) allowed six runs and eight hits in two-plus innings for the Tigers.
Hunter connected against Nate Robertson in the eighth, reaching 20 homers for the third consecutive season and seventh time in eight years. The drive landed an estimated 435 feet away in the upper hedgerow at Comerica Park.
``That's the longest ball I've ever hit here,'' said Hunter, who made frequent stops in Detroit during his first seven full seasons in the majors with Minnesota.
Kazmir (11-6) limited the Yankees to Cody Ransom's fifth-inning double, walked five and struck out seven, but a high pitch count (98) prevented him from going deeper into the game.
Chad Bradford worked a scoreless eighth but Tampa Bay lost its bid for its 13th shutout of the season in the ninth when Jason Hammel surrendered an RBI single to Ransom, who finished 3-for-3, and home runs to Jeter and Rodriguez.
Jeter's three-run shot to right field moved him within four hits of tying Babe Ruth for second on the Yankees' career hits list. Rodriguez followed with career homer No. 550 to cut it to 7-5.
Dan Wheeler replaced Hammel and earned his 11th save in 14 opportunities, retiring Xavier Nady on a first-pitch flyball.
Darrell Rasner (5-10) gave up five runs and six hits in 1 1-3 innings for New York.
``It's good to keep them in our rear view mirror because they've played well against us,'' Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. ``To lose three in a row here would not have been any fun at all.''
At Toronto, Jesse Litsch threw a four-hit shutout and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota.
Litsch (10-8) walked two, struck out three and is 2-1 with a 0.94 ERA in four starts since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 14.
Travis Snider hit his first career home run and went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to help Toronto beat Minnesota for the ninth straight time.
The Twins' Kevin Slowey (11-9) allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings to lose for the first time in six starts.
At Kansas City, Mo., Jose Guillen drove in three runs, Kyle Davies (6-6) ended a four-game losing streak and the Royals swept a doubleheader from the Athletics.
The Royals jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second game and finished with 15 hits.
Oakland scored three in the seventh and two in the ninth to cut it to 9-6 before Ramon Ramirez finished for his first career save.
Oakland had a chance in the first game and tried to rally from a big deficit in the second, but continued its free fall in the standings. The A's were four games behind AL West-leading Los Angeles on July 11 and have lost 35 of 47 since, dropping 22 1/2 games behind the Angels.
Joakim Soria (2-3) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win in the opener.
Joey Devine (4-1) and Dan Meyer (0-4) picked up the losses for Oakland.
