Yankees Are Routed Like Never Before, 22-0

With an epic defeat, the New York Yankees’ hold on first place in the American League East became increasingly tenuous.

Omar Vizquel got six hits to tie the AL record for a nine-inning game and the Cleveland Indians routed New York, 22-0, Tuesday night at New York in the largest loss in the 101-year history of the Yankees.

Cleveland matched the largest shutout win in the major leagues since 1900, set by Pittsburgh against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975.

“It’s obviously embarrassing,” Yankee catcher Jorge Posada said in words repeated by several teammates.

Yankee owner George Steinbrenner watched his team fall in record fashion, then refused to answer questions as he left the ballpark.

Cleveland’s runs total seemed to spin by on the scoreboard as fast as the symbols on a slot machine. New York’s AL East lead, which stood at 10 1/2 games on the morning of Aug. 16, was cut to 3 1/2 games by Boston, which beat the Angels, 10-7, for its 19th win in 23 games.

“Sure, we’re aware of where they are and what they’re doing, but you can’t lose perspective,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “It really wasn’t much fun watching anything, our scoreboard or theirs.”

Javier Vazquez (13-8) was knocked out in the second inning, Cleveland took a 15-0 lead in the fifth and Jody Gerut and Victor Martinez hit three-run homers off Esteban Loaiza in the ninth.

New York had never lost by more than 18 runs, falling, 24-6, at Cleveland on July 29, 1928, and 19-1 at home against Detroit on June 17, 1925.

Previously, the Yankees’ biggest shutout loss was 15-0 at home against the Chicago White Sox on May 4, 1950.

“The way Cleveland played tonight, we’d better worry about Cleveland, not about Boston,” Alex Rodriguez said.

Cleveland, which had season highs for runs and hits (22), set a team record for largest shutout win, topping its 19-0 rout of Boston on May 18, 1955.

New York, booed early and often by the crowd of 51,777, has lost five straight home games for the first time since May 2003.

Oakland 7, Chicago 2 -- Rich Harden pitched seven solid innings to help the Athletics match a season high with their eighth straight win, beating the White Sox at Chicago.

Adam Melhuse homered and had three hits for the A’s, who won for the 13th time in 14 games. They extended their lead in the AL West to three games over the Angels.

Baltimore 10, Tampa Bay 6 -- Melvin Mora and Jay Gibbons homered in the 12th inning and the Orioles outlasted the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla. Aubrey Huff hit two homers for Tampa Bay.

Seattle 7, Toronto 5 -- Ichiro Suzuki got three hits to finish with 56 in August, the most in a month by a major leaguer in 68 years, and the Mariners won at Toronto. The last player to get as many hits in a month was Cleveland’s George Weatherly in July 1936. Suzuki has 212 hits.

Kansas City 9, Detroit 8 -- Aaron Guiel’s sacrifice fly capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Royals over the Tigers.

Minnesota 8, Texas 5 -- Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer with two out in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the Twins over the Rangers.