The Yankees clinched the last playoff spot in the AL, but we still don't know who will win the division. So before the AL East and AL Wild Card are renamed for either Ted Williams or Lou Gehrig, the two divisions will have the same name. They will be named for the only player to play his entire major league career for BOTH the Yankees and Red Sox AND win a World Series with each team.

Without further ado...

AL East/Wild Card (Ramiro Mendoza Division):

The Red Sox lowered the magic number to 2 with an 11-6 win over Oakland. Mike Timlin got the win in relief and Dustin Pedroia hit a home run. Boston reclaimed the #1 spot in the AL as they hold a tiebreaker edge over Cleveland.

The Yankees clinched their 13th straight playoff berth with a 12-4 rout of Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. Rookie Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless inning to lower his ERA to 0.40. Tampa Bay rookie retired his first major league batter in his third game overall. But he gave up three runs and his ERA is now 189.00. Presently, Ridgway is tied with Joe Cleary for the highest measureable career ERA. (Several players have infinite ERAs by giving up runs without retiring a batter.)

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Angels took it very easy in Texas and got swept, losing the finale 16-2.

Oakland and Los Angeles have a day off before they face off for three games in Oakland to end the season. The Athletics will likely finish the season having to face each of the three division winners. Texas and Oakland are now tied for third.

Seattle played a road game at home in the first game of a doubleheader against Cleveland. And they played like they were elsewhere and lost 12-4. But the Mariners won the nightcap 3-2 in 10 innings.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Because of the split in Seattle, Cleveland lost its #1 spot in the AL. Cleveland can guarantee home field in the first round of the playoffs with one more win or an Angels loss.

Rains kept stopping the Twins-Tigers game in Detroit and once the Yankees eliminated the Tigers, they cut the game short in the top of the sixth. The Tigers won 9-4.

Jon Garland threw a 3-hit shutout to put the White Sox back into fourth place in the division. And they play again Thursday! Woo hoo!

Tomorrow's pitching matchups that might matter to some people:

Boof Bonser (Minnesota) vs Josh Beckett (Boston), Phil Hughes (New York) vs Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay), Paul Byrd (Cleveland) vs Cha Seung Baek (Seattle)

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The New York Mets continue to amaze and astound. Unfortunately for them, they are astounding people with their ways of losing games at home.

New York led Washington 5-0 after three innings at Shea and lost 9-6 to the Nats. Moises Alou did extend his hitting streak to 30 games. New York hosts St. Louis in a makeup game Thursday night and then has Florida in to finish the season.

The Phillies are 1 game back after Kyle Lohse was sharp for seven innings, giving up just a 2-run homer to Mark Texeira, as the Phillies beat Atlanta 5-2. The Braves can be eliminated Thursday if they lose or both New York and San Diego win. Philadelphia and Atlanta play again Thursday and then Washington comes to Philadelphia on the weekend to finish the regulars season.

As for Florida see below.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The Cubs lost their ninth straight game to Florida over the past two seasons, falling 7-4 at Dolphins Stadium. Florida used eight pitchers to get the win. Logan Kensing was credited with the W.

Milwaukee had a chance to move to one game back if they could finish off a sweep of the stumbling Cardinals. But the Brewers offense was dormant much of the night against Brad Thompson and the Cardinals won 7-3. The Brewers tied an NL record by using five pitchers in the eighth inning (Ray King, Seth McClung, Derrick Turnbow, Brian Shouse, and Chris Spurling). The Cardinals scored four times in that frame.

The Cubs magic number is 3, the lowest of any NL division leader. They play the Marlins again Thursday afternoon and then finish up at Cincinnati. Milwaukee will be hosting San Diego for four games starting Thursday. Bruce Froemming's crew, minus the suspended Mike Winters, will be working the series in Milwaukee.

Houston banged out four home runs in Cincinnati to move one game behind the Reds for fourth place in the division.

Pittsburgh? They resemble Florida. See below.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

With four games left in the season, three teams are within two games of the top.

Arizona lost its second straight game in Pittsburgh. This time it was by a 5-1 margin.

So San Diego had a chance to move one game back and they had Jake Peavy going for them in San Francisco against Pat Misch. It was Barry Bonds' last game as a Giant. And it wasn't even close and the Padres cruised 11-3. It was Peavy's 19th win of the year.

Colorado is just two games back as the Rockies won their tenth straight. They beat the Dodgers 2-0 in Los Angeles. Colorado plays Los Angeles again on Thursday and then hosts Arizona over the weekend.

NL Wild Card (Steve Finley Division):

San Diego leads Philadelphia and Colorado by one game.

Tomorrow's games with postseason implications:

Brandon Webb (Arizona) vs John Van Benschoten (Pittsburgh), Steve Trachsel (Chicago) vs Scott Olsen (Florida), John Smoltz (Atlanta) vs Kyle Kendrick (Philadelphia), Joel Pineiro (St. Louis) vs Pedro Martinez (New York), Jack Cassel (San Diego) vs Yovani Gallardo (Milwaukee), Franklin Morales (Colorado) vs Esteban Loaiza (Los Angeles)