Yankees Tie AL Mark For Wins

Joe Torre stared at some of the statues behind his desk: Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel and all the rest of the '27 Yankees.

His team had just done the famed Murderer's Row one better, winning its 111th game, setting a team record and matching the AL mark.

"We'll do the same thing," the manager joked, looking at the figurines.

Then he pointed to Combs.

"Here's Zimmer over here," Torre said with a laugh, poking fun at coach Don Zimmer.

Then he pointed to Gehrig in the cleanup spot.

"Here's Spencer. Right here," Torre said.

Shane Spencer, one of the newest Yankees, came through the with the biggest hit, a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning of a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday night. The magnitude of the achievement registered through the entire clubhouse.

"From the time I was a kid growing up, all I've ever heard is how great the '27 Yankees were," owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement read while Torre listened. "That's why this means so much. ... You all know that winning is important to me. It's not the No. 1 thing -- it's second. Breathing is."

Murderer's Row II? The current Yankees surpassed the famed 1927 Yanks with a victory Thursday. (Allsport)

New York (111-48) equaled the 1954 ClevelanIndians (111-43) and trails only the 1906 Chicago Cubs (116-36) in the win column. However, these Yankees had a 162-game schedule while the Indians set the AL record in a 154-game season. The '27 Yankees finished 110-44.

"To me, the Yankees record is more important than the American League record," Torre said. "We've made our place in history. The '27 club is the standard everyone goes by."

Spencer, a 26-year-old rookie, is the hottest Yankee of late, with 11 hits -- five of them homers - and 15 RBI in his last 17 at-bats. He hit his first career grand slam Friday at Baltimore.

"Where's my mom? I leave messages. She's not calling back. They don't want to jinx me," Spencer said.

His homer helped New York move 63 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1927 season and dropped the expansion Devil Rays to 1-8 against the Yankees.

Mike Buddie (4-1) got the win with two shutout innings in relief of David Wells, the Yankees' probable starter in their postseason opener next week.

Wilson Alvarez (6-14) took a no-hitter into the fifth and a 2-1 lead into the sixth before walking Chuck Knoblauch on four pitches. Singles by Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams produced the Yankees' first run. Chili Davis walked and Spencer followed with his eighth homer of the season.

"I'm seeing the ball good," Spencer said. "Everything slowed down. The ball looks a little bigger."

Wells allowed both runs and five hits in five innings and finished the regular season 18-4. Jeff Nelson, the fifth New York pitcher, got three outs for his third save., capping the Yankees' 50th come-from-behind win this season.

Alvarez gave up all five runs and four hits in five-plus innings. He has won just twice in 15 starts since coming off the disabled list July 6.

"The first five innings I was throwing strikes," he said. "Then in the sixth, I got behind. You can't get behind this team."

Miguel Cairo put the Devil Rays ahead in the second with a two-run single. Mike Kelly, the preceding batter, walked on 15 pitches. For a while, it looked like that might stand up.

"I'm a guy who appreciates the history of baseball," Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius said. "When you're going through it, you don't get a perspective on it. Years from now, maybe you can look back and say it was a special regular season."

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