TORONTO – The New York Yankees will miss the postseason for the first time since starting their run in 1995.

Mike Mussina pitched five shutout innings to earn his 19th win, Jason Giambi homered and the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Tuesday night.

It wasn’t enough to keep New York’s slim postseason hopes alive as Boston beat Cleveland 5-4 minutes before the Yankees win.

The Red Sox win clinched at least the AL wild-card and eliminated the Yankees from postseason contention.

Mussina (19-9), who also won 19 games with Baltimore in 1995 and 1996, will try for a career-high 20th victory when he faces Boston at Fenway Park on Sunday in the final game of the regular season.

Royals 5, Tigers 0

DETROIT – Zack Grienke and Leo Nunez combined for a four-hitter to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 5-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Mike Aviles, Ryan Shealy and Alex Gordon homered for Kansas City, which has won 10 of its last 12. Detroit, which only has eight hits in its last two games, has lost 11 of its last 12 and was shut out for the 13th time this season. The Royals also moved out of last place in the A.L. Central just ahead of the Tigers.

Braves 3, Phillies 2

PHILADELPHIA – Casey Kotchman homered, Mike Hampton won for the first time in a month and the Atlanta Braves curbed streaking Philadelphia’s playoff push with a 3-2 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night.

The NL-East leading Phillies missed a chance to reduce their magic number for clinching their second straight division title against the New York Mets, who beat the Cubs 6-2.

The Phillies twice had serious shots at big innings against the oft-injured Hampton (3-3). They left the bases loaded in the third and ran themselves out of a rally in the sixth to lose for only the second time in 12 games.

Mets 6, Cubs 2

NEW YORK – The New York Mets needed a break, and Johan Santana’s bat shattered just in time.

Santana sparked the Mets’ offense with an unusual broken-bat infield single and struck out 10 in eight innings, leading New York to a much-needed 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

Jose Reyes had a three-run triple for his 200th hit of the season and David Wright drove in two runs with a clutch single for the Mets, who ended a three-game skid reminiscent of last season’s epic collapse.

Nationals 9, Marlins 4

WASHINGTON – The Florida Marlins’ playoff hopes officially ended Tuesday night at the hands of a team that is simply trying to avoid 100 losses.

Alberto Gonzalez went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, and Shairon Martis got his first major league win as the Washington Nationals broke a five-game losing streak with a 9-4 win over the Marlins.

Rangers 6, Athletics 4

ARLINGTON, Texas – Hank Blalock hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 6-4 Tuesday night to move back into second place in the American League West.

Texas snapped its five-game losing streak. The A’s beat the Rangers on Monday to move into second place for the first time since July 25. Jamey Wright (8-7) allowed Cliff Pennington’s RBI grounder that gave Oakland a 4-3 lead in the seventh. Oakland reliever Alan Embree (2-5) retired the first two batters in the bottom half of the inning.

Cardinals 7, D-backs 4

ST. LOUIS – Kyle Lohse won his 15th game and the St. Louis Cardinals clobbered Randy Johnson for the second time this month, putting a dent in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ postseason hopes with a 7-4 victory Tuesday night.

Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer in the first and Albert Pujols had two hits, two RBIs and reached 100 walks for the first time in his career for the Cardinals, who won for the third time in 13 games.

Rays sweep Orioles

BALTIMORE – The Tampa Bay Rays keep reaching new milestones, and their latest feat brought them closer to perhaps the most significant accomplishment in an amazing regular season.

The Rays reduced their magic number to win the AL East to two on Tuesday night with another franchise first: a doubleheader sweep.

After James Shields pitched seven effective innings in a 5-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the opener, Tampa Bay rallied to win the nightcap 7-5.

The sweep, combined with Boston’s 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians, left the Rays three games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. Any combination of Rays wins and Boston losses totaling two will give Tampa Bay its first division title.