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. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-osi-umenyiora-jersey-cb... Umenyiora Jersey . Pablo Zabaleta opened the scoring in the 40th minute and Yaya Toure found the net three minutes later. Arsenal was without Robin van Persie, its captain and top scorer last season with 37 goals in all competitions. . The New York forward scored the winner Monday night as the Rangers defeated the Senators 1-0 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-robert-alford-jersey-bp... .J. -- Mike Pouncey took his turn at firing up the back-and-forth banter between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-asante-samuel-jersey-ng... Samuel Jersey . The 22-year-old defenceman has signed a month-to-month contract with Jokerit and is expected to make his debut with the team on Saturday. .C. -- The Chicago Wolves lineup may have been depleted Friday night, but they had plenty of fight left as the NHL training camps loom. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Matt Harrison has allowed just four home runs over his last 13 starts, and three of them have been by the Los Angeles Angels. Bobby Wilson hit his first of the season leading off the seventh inning against Harrison on Sunday night, sending the Texas Rangers left-hander to the showers in a 7-4 loss. "The biggest mistake was that fastball to Wilson in the seventh," Harrison said. "I dropped my guard on him and tried to throw a strike in there on 2-0." Harrison (12-5) gave up four runs and eight hits in six-plus innings after going the distance in his previous two outings, including a five-hit shutout last Sunday at Seattle. He was attempting to tie fellow All-Stars R.A. Dickey and David Price for the major league lead in victories and become the first Rangers pitcher with three consecutive complete games since Kenny Rogers in May 1994. "There were a lot of pressure at-bats, with guys on base pretty much every inning," Harrison said. "I had to battle the whole game. They were swinging the bats tonight, and I was just trying to minimize the damage as much as possible and keep the game close." Rookie sensation Mike Trout led off the Angels first with a triple into the right-field corner and came home on Albert Pujols ground-rule double into the left field corner. The Angels increased their lead to 3-0 in the second when Alberto Callaspo scored on a passed ball and Maicer Izturis came home on Wilsons single. "Harrison put up four zeros up after that and kept us in the ballgame, but the bullpen just couldnt shut it down," manager Ron Washington said. The Angels tacked on three runs in the seventh -- including Pujols 18th homer, a two-run shot off Alexi Ogando that followed a single by Torii Hunter. "I was just looking for a zone," Pujols said. "I faced him yesterday and he threw me some tough pitches. So I just tried to be aggressive, like I always am, and look for a pitch to hit that was up. I was able to put my best swing of the night on it, and it gave us a little cushion." Michael Youngs RBI single in the eighth off Scott Downs got the Rangers a run closer, but Hunter got it back with an RBI single in the eighth. Angels closer Ernesto Frieri, in a non-save situation, relieved Downs with one on and no outs in the ninth after David Murphy reached on Downs throwing error. Frieri walked two of his first three batters, loading the bases, and Elvis Andrus drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. But Frieri came back to strike out Josh Hamilton for the final out. Hamilton came up empty in four opportunities with runners in scoring position during the series, and is 0 for 15 this month in those situations. "He just wasnt very good tonight, but Ill take him in that situation every single night, whether hes struggling or swinging well -- because he can make a difference with one swing off the bat," Washington said. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-matt-ryan-jersey-ye-71.... Ryan Womens Jersey. "We were in a good position with the right guy up there, and he just didnt get it done. But youve got to give Frieri credit. He did what he had to do to get out of it." The two-time defending AL champion Rangers ended their road trip 4-4 and their lead over the Angels in the AL West was reduced to five games. The teams play each other 10 more times during the regular season, including a four-game series at Texas beginning July 30. "Were still in first place, so were all right," Washington said. "They won the series, but I dont have to worry about them again until next week. Weve got Boston coming into our place, and thats where our focus is." Dan Haren (7-8) pitched effectively for the Angels in his first start off the disabled list. The three-time All-Star threw 95 pitches over six innings, allowing two runs, three hits and three walks while striking out three. Haren, whose streak of 254 consecutive starts ended because of tightness in his lower back after his outing on July 3, had to contort himself to get out of the way of a vicious line-drive single by Michael Young that buzzed past his head with one out in the fourth. "I actually saw it come off the bat, and I dont know how it missed me," Haren said. "I dont know how close it was, but I could hear it go by me. When I was laying on the ground, I took a deep breath and got back up there. It was scary. That ball was coming at me at over a hundred miles an hour. But if I get hit, I get hit. I cant think about that." Three pitches later, Nelson Cruz drove his 12th homer halfway up the batters eye in centre field to cut Texas deficit to 3-2. It was Cruzs first homer on the road since June 3 at Angel Stadium, when he hit a mammoth two-run shot to left-centre against reliever Bobby Cassevah that was estimated at 484 feet and reached the championship flagpoles on the fly. Trout scored a run in his 14th consecutive game, setting an AL rookie record and an overall Angels franchise mark. The 20-year-old outfielder, who played in his first All-Star game less than two weeks ago, leads the majors in runs (70) and stolen bases (31), and is hitting an AL-best .355 -- despite spending almost the entire first month of the season in the minors. "Hes not Willie Mays," Washington said. "How long has he been in the big leagues? I mean, hes a pretty good player, but I think the comparisons have got to stop. Let that kid play. When hes been here about five or six years, then you can start doing that." NOTES: Rangers RHP Roy Oswalt was scratched from his scheduled start on Monday against Boston because of tightness in his lower back, and will be replaced by RHP Scott Feldman. ... Angels RHP David Carpenter was optioned to Triple-A to free up a roster spot for Haren. ... Pujolss 463rd career homer put him ahead of Jose Canseco for 32nd place all-time. ' ' '