ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays clinched the AL wild card with a stunning rally Wednesday night, overcoming a late seven-run deficit and then beating the New York Yankees 8-7 on Evan Longoria’s home run in the 12th inning.
The Rays’ win came four minutes after the Boston Red Sox blew a one-run lead in the ninth at Baltimore and lost 4-3, causing a roar at Tropicana Field.
The Red Sox held a nine- game lead in the AL wild-card race after Sept. 3, but a 7-19 swoon left them tied with Tampa Bay entering the final day of the regular season.
Longoria hit a three-run homer in the eighth that capped a six-run burst. Pinch-hitter Dan Johnson’s two-out, two-strike solo homer in the ninth tied it, and Longoria won it with a one-out shot barely inside the left-field foul pole, finishing the comeback from a 7-0 margin.
Tampa Bay will open its best-of-five playoff matchup at Texas on Friday. The Yankees will host the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 on Friday night.
Longoria connected off Scott Proctor (0-3) to end it. Proctor was the Yankees’ 11th pitcher of the game — they did not use all-time career saves leader Mariano Rivera, and Johnson hit his tying shot off Cory Wade. The Yankees pulled their regulars throughout the game and finished with a lineup that looked more like a Triple-A team.
The Orioles won their game in the ninth against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon (4-1), who struck out the first two batters before giving up a double to Chris Davis. Nolan Reimold followed with a double to score pinch-runner Kyle Hudson, and Robert Andino completed the comeback with a single to left that Carl Crawford couldn’t glove.
The Rays, meanwhile, escaped a first-and-third, no-out jam in the 12th. Longoria made the key play, fielding a grounder at third and making a snap tag to catch the runner diving back to the bag.
