Bye-Bye Yankees; Cubs Keep Closing on Brewers

American League Tampa Bay 14 NY Yankees 4 | Chi White Sox 3 Boston 10 Sometimes, there's just such peculiar symmetry to this game that one marvels at it's serendipity. It was just at the stroke of 9 pm on the East coast, when, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Coco Crisp rapped a 3-run triple, turning what was a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead for the Red Sox. At nearly the same moment, Dioner Navarro launched a grand slam into Yankee Stadium's right field stands, giving the Devil Rays a 9-0 lead. The season for the Yankees was thus officially ended. Boston won, the Yankees lost, and the Al East was - for all intents and purposes - decided, in just a few minutes of play, more than two full months before the season is officially set to end. Julio Lugo added a grand slam for the Red Sox in the 8th to seal the deal. Let's face it. The Yankees just don't have the pitching to remain competitive with Boston. If the Sox play just .500 ball the rest of the way, they'll finish at 90-72, meaning the Yankees would have to finish up 42-26 (.620). It could happen, but it's not likely. The Yanks are also in grave danger of missing the post-season altogether. New York is six games behind Seattle, and the Mariners are 1 1/2 back of Cleveland in the wild card race. The Yankees could pass one of them by, but getting past both is unrealistic. It's over Yankees fans. Better luck next year (if you can resign A-Rod, that is). Kansas City 10 Detroit 2 - Rookie Billy Butler went 4-5 and drove in 4 runs as the Royals won their 3rd straight. Cleveland 3 Texas 2 - Rookie starter Fausto Carmona (12-4) threw 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits while fanning 7 as the Indians closed the gap between them and 1st place Detroit to one game in the AL Central. Closer Joe Borowski made it interesting, allowing a run on two hits, a walk and two errors in the ninth, finally getting the last out with the bases full of Rangers. LA Angels 5 Minnesota 7 - Justin Morneau (right) singled and drove in three runs with his 26th home run as the Twins ended their 3-game losing skein. The loss by the Angels allowed the Mariners to close to within 1 game of first place in the AL West. Seattle 4 Toronto 2 - Adrian Beltre socked a 2-run homer to lift the Mariners over Toronto and get to within one game of AL West leader Los Angeles. Beltre has 5 homers and 13 RBI in his last 11 games. J.J. Putz picked up his 29th save, tops in the AL. Other AL Scores Baltimore at Oakland - E. Bedard, W (9-4), 11 K National League Arizona 2 Chi Cubs 6 - Aramis Ramirez (right) stroked a 3-run homer and singled in another run to lead the Cubs over stumbling Arizona. The Cubs have won 12 of 16 in July and continue to gain on Milwaukee. The D-Backs are going completely in the other direction, having lost 12 of 16 in July. San Francisco 8 Milwaukee 4 - Later in the night, Milwaukee lost for the 9th time in 16 tries in July. Their loss, coupled with the Cubs' win, trimmed the Brewers' lead to a mere 2 1/2 games. Colorado 3, Washington 1 - Aaron Cook hurled 7 innings of shutout ball on 4 hits and the Rockies hung tough in the NL West race, tying Arizona for 3rd place, 4 1/2 behind LA and San Diego. Other NL Scores Cincinnati 2 Florida 10 - M. Cabrera, 2-4, HR (23), 3 RBI (69) Houston 2 Pittsburgh 1 - R. Oswalt (W, 9-6) 6 IP, 7 H, 1ER St. Louis 4 Atlanta 2 NY Mets 4 LA Dodgers 1 - O. Perez, W (9-6) 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 8 K Philadelphia 7 San Diego 4 - C. Utley, HR (17), 2 RBI (81) leads NL