NEW YORK -- Covered in bubbly and wearing his new AL East champions hat, Derek Jeter sounded almost relieved after the New York Yankees ended a thrilling pennant race at the top of the league. Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson each hit a pair of homers, powering the Yankees past the Boston Red Sox 14-2 on a raucous Wednesday night in the Bronx for their 13th East title in 17 years. "This was difficult. Come into the last day of the season, nobody knows whats going on. Weve been taking it one day at a time for quite some time," Jeter said. "It feels good." In front of fans poised to party from the first pitch on the final night of the regular season, the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the last-place Red Sox to win their second consecutive division crown. The championship was locked up by the seventh inning, when Baltimores 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay went final and prompted a huge ovation from the 47,393 in attendance. Alex Rodriguez stepped out of the batters box, and several players high-fived and hugged in the dugout while coaches shook hands. "This year we had to fight, scratch and claw," Nick Swisher said. The subdued celebration didnt really start until Freddy Garcia struck Ivan De Jesus looking to end it. Players hugged and slapped fives on the field and put on their AL East champion shirts and hats as fans feted them with a standing ovation with "New York, New York," blaring over the loudspeakers. The team walked off the field to chants of "Lets go Yankees!" "Now the real season starts," Jeter said. Cano went 4 for 4 and tied a career high with six RBIs as New York (95-67) finished two games ahead of Baltimore and secured home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. The Yankees will open on the road Sunday against the winner of Fridays wild-card game between Baltimore and Texas. "To have the best record and not know where youre going is strange," manager Joe Girardi said. New York led the division by 10 games on July 18 but the pesky Orioles caught up on Sept. 4 and were tied with the Yankees after 10 different days in September. Many players credit Girardi with keeping the clubhouse calm during that stretch. "Hes very even-keeled," Granderson said. "You never see him get too excited or down." The Yankees rode the long ball all season, and the four homers in the finale set a franchise record at 245. Hiroki Koroda (16-11) shut Boston down with an encouraging performance after struggling through much of September. He allowed two runs and seven hits over seven innings. With New York heading into the playoffs for the first time since 1981 without career saves leader Mariano Rivera -- he tore a knee ligament shagging flies in May -- the rout gave the Yankees a chance to rest Rafael Soriano, who threw 43 pitches over two innings of the 12-inning, 4-3 comeback win Tuesday night. Bobby Valentine brought the lineup card out to the umpires for what might have been the final time as manager of the Red Sox, who finished last in the AL East at 69-93 in his first season leading the club. Boston, in the cellar for the first time in two decades, ended the year with eight straight losses, their longest skid since losing nine in a row in 2001. The Red Sox lost 26 off their last 33 games. "Very disappointing season. Extremely disappointing," Valentine said. Granderson hit his career-best 42nd homer in the second, a three-run shot off Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-7), making his first start since Sept. 19. Cano then connected in the third for a 5-1 lead. One batter later Matsuzaka was finished, most likely ending his six-year career with Boston. The Red Sox paid $51.1 million to win the rights to the Japanese star and gave him a $52 million contract. Matsuzaka went 33-15 in his first two years, helping win a World Series in 2007. But injuries, including elbow-reconstruction surgery June 2011, marred the last four years and he finished the deal 50-37. "I didnt expect my six years to end the way it did," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "It has been really hard on me mentally for a while now." Cano hit his 33rd homer in the fifth, following Alex Rodriguezs double. It was A-Rods first extra-base hit since Sept. 14. Cano has been on quite a tear, hitting .615 (24 for 39) during a stretch of nine straight multihit games that lifted his average to .313. "Its a great feeling," Cano said. "It just came up at the right time." Granderson matched his teammate with a solo shot to right-centre leading off the seventh for a 10-2 lead. The Yankees narrowly avoided what wouldve been their biggest blown division lead in team history -- they led by six games in 1933 and finished seven back of the original Washington Senators. This summers skid was brought on as CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Rodriguez got hurt. The Yankees stumbled through August -- often looking old and tired. But New York went 19-8 down the stretch, thanks to two stirring comeback victories led by 40-year-old Raul Ibanez. Girardi thinks the group was able to make a run after losing the division lead because they were old -- well, experienced. "I think having that experience in there when it got to zero no one panicked," He said of the division lead. "They had the same personality every day. The looseness, some of the guys were goofy." NOTES: Jeter led the AL with 216 hits and finished with 99 runs. ... The Yankees won the season series 13-5, their most wins since 2001. ... There were 232 home runs at Yankee Stadium, up from 208 last year. There were four games with no homers as opposed to nine last year, seven in 2010 and just one in the first year. ... The Yankees had a home attendance of 3,542,406, their lowest in four seasons at new Yankee Stadium. Attendance was 3.72 million in 2009, climbed to 3.77 million in 2010, then dropped to 3.65 million last year. ... The Red Sox hired Eddie Bane as a special assistant, player personnel. Bane spent the last two seasons as a scout for the Detroit Tigers. He was director of scouting for the Angels from 2004-10. Among the players picked under his direction: Jered Weaver, Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . The Canadian women dropped a 14-10 decision to Russia while Wales defeated the Canadian mens team 21-14. Edmontons Jen Kish scored an early try for the Canadian women but Russia pulled ahead to lead 14-5 at the half. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . In one sense hes a perfect fit for this Toronto roster. He moves extremely well without the ball, which will help diversify Torontos predictable offense. Hes a standout rebounder and passer, which as a starter helps offset the fact that Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan are terrible in both areas. http://www.wholesalesportsjersey... . Lauryn Keen had a goal and two assists for the Hawks while Jessica Kaminsky scored the other. Madison Hutchinson picked up two assists for Pembina Valley to give her a team-leading eight points in six games. [url=http://www.wholesalesportsjerseysshop.com/]Wholesale Jerseys . The Toronto Blue Jays starter was having success with a first-pitch fastball, but quickly found Cleveland batters were laying off his off-speed pitches. Jerseys China Cheap . 4 and make a ruling shortly after. Such timing potentially could be disruptive for the Saints, who could lose starting defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Jonathan Vilma while trying to claw back into playoff contention.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Webb Simpson was nervous playing in the same group with Tiger Woods. It sure didnt show Thursday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Simpson chipped in from 35 yards in front of the par-4 eighth green for eagle, and then made Woods shake his head and smile when he holed a 60-foot birdie putt that might have rolled off the 12th green if the cup didnt get in the way. It led to a 7-under 65 for a share of the lead Thursday with Stewart Cink and Ryan Moore. "I was nervous playing with Tiger. I prayed a lot out there," said Simpson, who lives about a mile away from Quail Hollow and already was on edge about trying to perform well for the neighbours. "Once I made a couple birdies, I kind of enjoyed it." There was a lot to like for just about everyone on a steamy day in Carolina. With temperatures pushing 90 and barely a breeze, scoring conditions were so ideal that even par was over the cut line going into the second round. The average score was 71.72, the lowest for the first round in the 10-year history of the tournament. Woods failed to take advantage. In his first tournament since a tie for 40th at the Masters -- his worst performance as a pro at Augusta National -- he made too many mistakes early and had to one-putt three of the last four greens for a 71. "Ive got to obviously not make those little mistakes like that tomorrow," Woods said. "Weve got a long way to go, and weve got some rain coming probably on the weekend, so were going to have to go get it." So many others did just that, including Cink, who has been mired in a slump. He ended an already solid day with three straight birdies, holing a 20-foot putt on the ninth for his lowest round of the year. Moore also birdied his last three holes. Rickie Fowler, still searching for his first PGA Tour win in his third full season, led a group of five players at 66 that included Patrick Reed, the 21-year-old from Augusta State who has Monday qualified to get in the last two tournaments. The scoring was so low that about one-quarter of the field shot in the 60s, and half of them broke par. "I think any time you get tour players in 90-degree weather with not much wind, its naturally going to soften out the greens," Simpson said. "I think youve seen over the years, the hotter it is and the less wind there is, the scores are going to be really good. And I think thats what happened. They cant get the greens too firm with this weather. It will just burn them out." He didnt have much of an explanation for his own golf, considering he had only two rounds in the 60s in his previous three starts at Quail Hollow. Plus, there was that apprehension about playing with Woods, and the large crowd the 14-time major champion attracts. The only other time Simpson played with Woods didnt last long. It was the final round of Doral this year, where Simpson jokingly said, "I accidenntally kicked him in the leg and he withdrew.ddddddddddddquot; Woods left after 11 holes that day with tightness in his left Achilles tendon, which raised questions about his future until Woods won two weeks later at Bay Hill. Eleven holes at Doral at least gave Simpson a taste of what to expect. "We went from 10,000 people every hole to zero people," he said. Thousands of fans on a scorching day at Quail Hollow followed them around all afternoon, with Simpson and Geoff Ogilvy (71) in tow. Simpson is the one who generated most of the cheers. He stuffed his tee shot on the par-3 second and his approach on the third to inside 3 feet for birdies, holed a birdie putt just inside 30 feet on the sixth, and then chipped in for his eagle at No. 8. Simpson joined the morning leaders with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 11th, but no birdie was more unlikely than No. 12. His tee shot went into the right rough, and because of trees blocking the flight of his ball, hit a low bullet that ran up the hill to the back side of the green, leaving him a 60-foot putt that swung sharply to the left and ran quickly away from him. He was trying to get it within about 6 feet of the hole, and it dove into the cup. Simpson flung his belly putter to the ground and laughed, which is about all he could think of to do. "I play here a lot, and I knew where I hit it was pretty dead," he said. "So, yeah, Ill take it." Phil Mickelson recovered from a tee shot that went out-of-bounds and led to triple bogey and shot 71. Rory McIlroy, who earned his first PGA Tour win at Quail Hollow two years ago by closing with a 62, birdied three of the par 5s but three-putted from 18 feet on the 18th hole and had to settle for a 70. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was the low Canadian with a 70, five strokes back of the leaders. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., was finished with a 71 and Calgarys Stephen Ames carded a 74. Fowler led the parade of good scoring in the morning with a round of 66 that was so flawless he never came close to a bogey. He had a birdie putt on all but one green, and the longest putt he had for par was 4 feet. He hit 6-iron to the front pin -- a tiny target -- on the par-5 seventh hole for an eagle, then birdied three of his last four holes. Fowler has become a fan favourite, especially with young kids in their orange attire, but he still doesnt have what matters. Fowler is not nearly as concerned as everyone else about his 0-71 mark on the PGA Tour. He won the Korea Open last year by beating McIlroy, and he feels as though his game is headed in the right direction. "I feel that Im good enough to win," Fowler said. "I definitely feel like the amount of people expecting or thinking that I can win is a compliment. Im not too worried about the talk that goes on about when my first win is coming, but its my main goal, and thats what Im focused on." ' ' '