ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez homered twice and drove in an AL-record seven runs in a 10-run sixth to help the playoff-bound New York Yankees finish the regular season with a 10-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a three-run homer off Wade Davis, giving the AL East champions a 3-2 lead. He added his 18th career grand slam later in the inning after Andy Sonnanstine issued an intentional walk to league co-home run champion Mark Teixiera to load the bases.

New York, preparing to open the playoffs at home against Detroit or Minnesota on Wednesday or Thursday, finished with a 103-59 record, its best since 103-58 in 2002.

Tampa Bay dropped to 84-78 after going 97-65 last year and reaching the World Series for the first time.

A-Rod moved into a tie with Mark McGwire for eighth on the career list with 583 homers. It also gave him at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs for the 13th time — including the past 12 seasons — despite missing the first month with a hip injury.

A.J. Burnett (13-9) pitched five innings for the victory, enabling the Yankees to avoid a weekend sweep.

Joba Chamberlain, who could be headed for the bullpen for the first round of the playoffs, tossed a perfect inning in relief as manager Joe Girardi continued preparing for the postseason.

A year after making an improbable run to the American League pennant, the Rays finished 19 games behind the Yankees in the division. Evan Longoria scored both of the runs off Burnett, hitting his 33rd homer in the first and racing home on a passed ball to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead in the fifth.

Rookies Davis (2-2), Jeff Niemann and David Price combined for 25 wins and are part of the reason the Rays are optimistic about their prospects of returning to the top of the AL East in 2010.

The 24-year-old right-hander limited the Yankees to three singles over the first five innings, then couldn’t get anyone out in the sixth. Johnny Damon began New York‘s big inning with a double and later helped keep it alive for A-Rod with a two-run double off Sonnanstine that made it 6-2.

The previous AL record of six RBIs in an inning was accomplished 12 times, most recently by Boston’s David Ortiz on Aug. 12, 2008.

Rodriguez was sidelined until May 8 after hip surgery, then homered on the first pitch he saw from Baltimore’s Jeremy Guthrie. He began Sunday with 28 homers and 93 RBIs.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner visited with the team for about an hour in the clubhouse before the game and later said he’s “excited” about the playoffs, which will start later this week.

The 79-year-old Steinbrenner made the trip to Tropicana Field from his home in nearby Tampa for the second time this season. He also met with the players before the Yankees‘ 6-2 win in St. Petersburg on July 29.

Steinbrenner attended the opener at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16 and is expected to be on hand for some of New York‘s home playoff games.

Posada and Matsui

ANAHEIM – Yankee Stadium went out with a whimper last fall, closing its doors before the postseason began. Its successor won’t have that same fate in its inaugural season.

The Yankees celebrated clinching a spot in the postseason after a thrilling 6-5 win over the Angels, a berth they earned when Texas lost earlier Tuesday night.

They still have some work to do in order to wrap up the AL East title, but no matter what happens over the final 12 days of the regular season, playoff baseball will be returning to the Bronx next month after a one-year hiatus. “I think there was a bad taste last September in our mouth, not going to the postseason,” Joe Girardi said. “This group came together very quickly as a team. They spent a lot of time investing in each other in the offseason and in spring training, and they got very close.”

The Yankees actually clinched long before their game went final, as they were batting in the eighth inning when the out-of-town scoreboard at Angel Stadium flashed the final from Oakland, officially putting the Bombers in the postseason for the 14thtime in the past 15 years.

The lead over the Red Sox grew to six games, thanks to Boston’s loss in Kansas City, reducing the Yankees’ magic number for the division crown to six. The Red Sox lead the Rangers by seven games in the wild-card race.

Alex Rodriguez – who hit a two-run homer earlier in the game to help build a five-run lead – hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to snap a tie game. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth, notching his 41st save.

The New York Yankees picked up a game in the race for home-field advantage in the AL, moving 5-1/2games in front of the Angels. The win was the Bombers’ first in five tries at Angel Stadium, a place they may have to visit again next month in the playoffs.

“This has been a tough place for us, so winning out here is important,” Girardi said before the game. “And getting back to winning series, because we haven’t done that since Tampa. It’s been a while since we’ve been in a stretch like that.”

A.J. Burnett has a chance to lift the Yankees to their first series win in Anaheim since 2004, taking on Scott Kazmir this afternoon in the finale of the three-game set.

A-Rod and Jorge Posada each drilled two-run homers in the third inning – Rodriguez hitting his on a 3-0 pitch from Ervin Santana – giving the Bombers a 4-0lead. Hideki Matsui added a solo shot in the fifth.

Chad Gaudin eased his way through the Angels lineup over the first four frames, holding it to three hits and a walk, allowing only one runner to advance beyond first base. After getting two quick outs in the fifth, Gaudin needed only one more to qualify for the victory, but he never got it.

After failing in their second attempt at clinching a playoff berth, the Yankees will try again Tuesday night when they continue a three-game series with the Angels.

New York (95-56) could have clinched at least the AL wild card with a win against Seattle on Sunday, but lost 7-1. A second chance on Monday proved just as futile, as the Yankees lost 5-2 to Los Angeles (90-60) for their ninth defeat in 10 games at Angel Stadium.

New York could also have clinched its 14th playoff berth in 15 years with a Texas loss, but the Rangers beat Oakland on Monday.

Despite the setback, the Yankees maintained a five-game lead over Boston in the AL East. The rivals will face off in the Bronx for three games this weekend.

New York will try to end any suspense about making the playoffs Tuesday, but it will have to find a way to win at a park where it traditionally struggles. The Yankees have lost all four games they’ve played at Anaheim this year, and have dropped five straight there going back to last season. New York starters are 0-4 with a 7.27 ERA during that stretch. Andy Pettitte, pitching on 10 days’ rest Monday, gave up two runs in the first and finished having allowed three runs in six innings.

The Yankees have stumbled recently overall, losing six of 10. However, they maintain a 4 1/2 game lead on the Angels for the best record in the AL and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

“We’d like to get it locked up, but we haven’t been winning,” Pettitte said. “We’ve been playing so well the second half, but we’re kind of in a little lull right now. So more than anything, we just want to get it going again and get back on the winning ways.”

Los Angeles has won four of five following a three-game losing streak to reach 90 victories for the third straight season and sixth time in eight years. They are 7 1/2 games ahead of second-place Texas in the West.

Vladimir Guerrero, who is hitting .356 in his last 12 games, had two hits Monday. Guerrero is batting .421 during a 13-game home hitting streak against the Yankees, and has driven in eight runs in his last seven games against them.

The Angels will try to clinch their eighth straight home series win against the New York Yankees when they hand the ball to Ervin Santana (7-8, 4.76 ERA), who is seeking his first win in six starts.

The right-hander pitched seven innings against Boston on Thursday, allowing three runs but not getting the decision in a 4-3 victory. Los Angeles had lost Santana’s previous four starts.

Santana is 5-2 with a 5.09 lifetime ERA against the Yankees.

New York will give Chad Gaudin (1-0, 3.68) the ball for his fifth start with the team.

Gaudin, acquired Aug. 6 from San Diego, gave up three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 5-4 win over Toronto on Wednesday. Although he did not record a decision, New York has won all four of Gaudin’s starts.

The right-hander is 2-3 with a 5.89 ERA in eight career starts against the Angels. He gave up eight runs and 10 hits in three innings of an 11-6 Padres loss at Anaheim on June 12.

Sergio Mitre- Paul J. Bereswill/Associated Press

The Yankees took it to the White Sox today while their starting pitcher, Sergio Mitre, threw a one hitter into the seventh inning. Dominant right? I am just glad that the offense decided to show up to play. I wonder how AJ Burnett feels about that…

Today was the first appearance for Mitre since a relief outing eight days ago, and he was perfect until Jim Thome hit a bad-hop double past two time Gold Glove first baseman Mark Teixeira in the fifth.

Mitre has to be pleased with his performance today. Coming into today’s start, Mitre was rockin a 6.82 ERA.

Someone who was extremely upset after today’s game…Ozzie Guillen. Yep, he sure was.

“I’m embarrassed,” Guillen said. “And everybody in that room should be embarrassed. If they’re not embarrassed, they got the wrong job or they’re stealing money from baseball. I feel like I’m stealing the money from (chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf). And that’s a shame. When you got more errors than hits, you better look yourself in the mirror and start second-guessing yourself. But I’m second-guessing myself right now, making the wrong lineup every day.

You can always count on a good quote like that from Ozzie guillen when his team is in a slump. But this one is also classic:

“I was looking at the Little League game this morning, and they were playing better than we did. It was more fun. It gets to the point where you are a veteran player and I have a lot of respect for them, and you appreciate what they do for you in the past, but this is not major league baseball, sorry.”

Thanks Ozzie for the laughs.

For the Yanks, Chad Gaudin came into relieve Mitre in the seventh, when he was forced to be taken out of the game because of a hard hit line-drive by Pierzynski that struck him in the forearm. Team doctors for the Yankees believe he will be fine and will be able to go in a day or two.