Yankees play-off streak is ended

The New York Yankees have failed to reach Major League Baseball's play-offs for the first time since 1993.

They beat Toronto 3-1 - the sixth straight game of a late-season surge - but their fate was out of their hands.

The Yankees (86-71) were eliminated from the wilcard race by arch-rivals Boston (92-65) who beat Cleveland 5-4.

The Bronx-based team are MLB's most successful team, with 26 World Series wins, and reaching the play-offs is seen as a minimum requirement by fans.

On Sunday, the Yankees said farewell to their Yankee Stadium home after 85 years with a 7-3 win over Baltimore.

They will move into a new ballpark nearby ahead of the 2009 season.

Tampa Bay moved closer to their first American League East title by winning both games of a double-header against Baltimore, 5-2 and 7-5, on Tuesday.

With the regular season in its final week, the Rays (95-62) moved three games ahead of Boston.

The wins on Tuesday reduced Tampa Bay's 'magic number' to two, meaning any combination of Rays' victories and Red Sox losses equalling two, will clinch the title.

Both teams have five games remaining before the regular season ends on Sunday.