NEW YORK (AP) – Craig Monroe hit a three-run homer off Scott Proctor with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Detroit Tigers avoided a doubleheader sweep by rallying past the New York Yankees 5-3 Wednesday night.

Chien-Ming Wang tied Toronto’s Roy Halladay for the major league lead with his 16th win in the day game, combining on a four-hitter in a 2-0 Yankees victory.

New York led 3-2 in the nightcap when Proctor (5-4), trying for his first career save, walked Brandon Inge with one out in the ninth and Curtis Granderson with two outs. Monroe followed with his 23rd homer of the season, a drive to left-center.

As the ball sailed high over him, Derek Jeter didn’t even turn around at shortstop. He just dropped his head between his legs and swiped the infield dirt with his hands.

Jason Grilli (2-2) retired one batter for the win, and Todd Jones finished for his 35th save in 38 chances.

Proctor threw one pitch in the opener, and Yankees manager Joe Torre had said he planned to use Kyle Farnsworth as his closer in the second game after Mariano Rivera saved the first one. It was not immediately clear why Farnsworth didn’t pitch.

Still, New York boosted its AL East lead to eight games over second-place Boston, its largest division margin since Aug. 17, 2004.

Detroit, which has lost eight of 12, started Wednesday five games ahead of second-place Chicago in the AL Central.

Yankees starter Jaret Wright struck out five and walked one in a season-high 6 1-3 innings in the second game, allowing Carlos Guillen’s second-inning homer and Sean Casey’s fourth-inning RBI single.

Wilfredo Ledezma made his second start of the season and extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings before fading in the sixth.

He hit Sal Fasano with a pitch leading off, then allowed a one-out double to Melky Cabrera, just the second hit of the game for New York.

Fernando Rodney relieved, Jeter pulled a double down the left-field line and Jason Giambi was intentionally walked to bring up Alex Rodriguez.

Coming in, Rodriguez was 4-for-4 with four homers against Ledezma with a walk and six RBIs. But he popped up twice against him, and against Rodney hit a slow roller to third that Inge barehanded as Jeter scored.

A-Rod was thrown out at first and was booed several times as he went 0-for-7 in the doubleheader, leaving him with one hit in 24 at-bats. After Granderson caught up with his drive to deep right-center in the fifth inning of the opener, A-Rod bounced his helmet off the infield dirt just past first base.

Brian Bruney relieved Wright in the seventh and got out of a two-on jam by retiring pinch-hitter Ivan Rodriguez on a squib in front of the plate and Granderson on a flyout.

With Yankee Stadium less than half full for the afternoon makeup of Tuesday night’s rainout, Wang (16-5) allowed three hits in 7 2-3 innings. Pitching on six days’ rest, he got 13 groundball outs, including five on comebackers.

“It’s like trying to hit a bowling ball,” Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry said. “The sinker that he throws is so heavy and it moves so late, the guys just beat it in the ground.”

Wang has overtaken Randy Johnson (15-10) and Mike Mussina (13-5) to become the Yankees’ ace.

“He’s the one that’s pitching the best right now,” Guidry said.

Wang, who received a standing ovation from fans when he came out, won for the eighth time in nine decisions.

“He’s doing all the big-game pitcher stuff,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Wang likely has six starts left in the regular season and could get consideration for the AL Cy Young Award.

“I don’t think of that,” the soft-spoken native of Taiwan said.

Wang left after Granderson’s double gave the Tigers runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth. Proctor relieved, and Ordonez pinch hit and flied out to left on a first-pitch slider. Rivera finished for his 32nd save in 35 chances.

Craig Wilson homered off Nate Robertson (11-11) and Giambi added a sacrifice fly for New York, which returned from California on Sunday after playing 21 games in 20 days.

“Craig Wilson is a nine-hole hitter? He was a four-hole hitter somewhere else,” Robertson said.

Making his 100th major league start and 99th with Detroit, Robertson dropped to 1-5 in August. He gave up both runs in the fifth, and Wilson’s homer was the 25th he allowed this year.

“When you hold the Yankees to two runs, you’re supposed to win, in my opinion,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Andrew Miller, selected by Detroit with the sixth pick of June’s amateur draft, made his major league debut after pitching just five innings in the minors. The 6-foot-6 left-hander from the University of North Carolina pitched a hitless eighth, hitting a batter with a pitch.

“It was a rush. I’ve got so much adrenaline going, I can’t really tell you what I was thinking,” Miller said. “My heart is still racing.”

Notes: The opener drew a turnstile attendance of 18,167 out of 52,585 tickets sold. … Yankees INF Andy Phillips, on the disabled list since Aug. 18 with a strained ribcage, is likely to make a minor league rehab appearance later this week. … The Tigers and Yankees met with both teams 25 or more games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 17, 1961.

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