ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — George Steinbrenner moved to the front row of the owner’s private suite,

and the celebration was on. The Yankees clinched their 13th straight postseason appearance, beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 12-4 last night to assure themselves of at least a wild-card berth in the playoffs.

The victory, New York’s 15th in 20 games, eliminated defending AL champion Detroit from postseason contention and set up a probable first-round matchup with Cleveland, the Central champion. TheYankees arethreegames behind Boston with four games left, so New York’s streak of nine consecutive AL East titles is likely to end.

New York, just 21-29 before play on May 30, went 70-38 after that. The Yankees, who hugged each other on the field and in the dugout following the final out, have made the playoffs every year since 1995, and their streak of 13 consecutive trips is one shy of the record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991-2005.

“I’m elated,” Steinbrenner said in a statement. “After a tough first half of the season when everyone seemed to lose faith except for our players and our fans, the team has really stepped up and shown themselves to be the champions that they are. … I really like the mix of veterans and younger players who have contributed to this comeback. It has been exciting to watch them play, coalesce and pull together. The fans and I look forward to the team accomplishing our ultimate goal — bringing a world championship back to New York.”

The Los Angeles Angels already have clinched the AL West, so all four AL playoff teams were decided before any spot in the NL was clinched. Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano homered, and the Yankees broke a close game open with a seven-run fifth inning that was still in progress when Steinbrenner moved from a seat near the rear of his suite at Tropicana Field to the front row.

Fans jammed the aisle leading to the box and some stepped over seats to get close enough to snap pictures and speak to the Yankees owner, who lives in nearby Tampa but was not in the house when New York wasted an opportunity to clinch the night before. Steinbrenner left the ballpark after the seventh inning. Jeter hit a solo homer off J.P. Howell (1-6) in the fourth and added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to support right-hander Chien-Ming Wang (19-7), who became the first Yankees pitcher to win at least 19 games in consecutive seasons since Tommy John won 21 in 1979 and 22 in 1980.

Cano tied a career-best with five RBIs, including a three-run homer off Howell in the fifth. Jorge Posada drove in three with a two-run single in the fifth and a RBI single in the sixth, when the Yankees scored three times to increase their lead to 12-2.

Wang, who has won six of his last seven decisions, allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. He yielded a sacrifice fly and solo home run to Carlos Pena.