The New York Yankees thrashed the Boston Red Sox 14-2 Wednesday. They defeated them in all departments of the game and registered a comprehensive victory, also clinching their 13th division title in the last 17 years.
Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano both hit a pair of homers that helped the Yankees crush the Red Sox.
"This was difficult," Derek Jeter said. "Come into the last day of the season, nobody knows what's going on. We've been taking it one day at a time for quite some time. It feels good."
The New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, who were at the bottom of the table, winning their second successive division crown.
The division title was in the balance until the seventh inning, when the Orioles lost to Tampa Bay Rays 4-1. This prompted a huge round of applause from about 48,000 spectators at the stadium.
Nick Swisher, the Yankees' first baseman said: "This year we had to fight, scratch and claw."
The Yankees (95-67) finished at the top of AL East, two games ahead of the Orioles. They have also secured home field advantage for all the AL playoffs.
On Sunday, the New York Yankees will play against the winner of the wild card game between the Orioles and the Rangers which is to be played Friday.
The Yankees' manager Joe Girardi said: "To have the best record and not know where you're going is strange."
Girardi also attributed his team's success to experience among the players. He said of the division lead: "I think having that experience in there when it got to zero no one panicked. They had the same personality every day. The looseness, some of the guys were goofy."
Meanwhile for the Red Sox it was very disappointing. They finished at the bottom of the AL East with an unimpressive 69-93. They ended the season with eight consecutive losses, their longest string of defeats since 2001. They also lost as many as 26 of their last 33 games.
Bobby Valentine, the manager of the Red Sox said: "Very disappointing season. Extremely disappointing."
Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox pitcher, has most likely ended his six-year career with the Red Sox after Wednesday's defeat. Although he was impressive in his initial seasons, helping Boston win a World Series in 2007, the last four years have been pretty ordinary by his standards; mostly due to injuries which include an elbow reconstruction surgery.
Matsuzaka said through a translator: "I didn't expect my six years to end the way it did. It has been really hard on me mentally for a while now."
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