Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera closes out the division-clinching win on Sunday. (Henny Ray Abrams/Associated Press)Mark Teixeira blasted his 38th home run while Melky Cabrera hit his 13th on Sunday as the New York Yankees wrapped up their first American League East title in three years.
New York won for the 100th time in 156 games and swept the Boston Red Sox with a 4-2 win.
Andy Pettitte (14-7) overcame some early trouble to finish strong over the last three innings of his day. Pettitte went six, striking out four and walking three.
Mariano Rivera was on the mound for yet another clinching moment in his illustrious career, this time at the new Yankee Stadium.
Catcher Jose Molina leaped up from behind the plate even before Rivera had fielded Jacoby Ellsbury's soft comebacker for the final out. The Yankees swarmed Rivera on the first-base side of the mound while players in the bullpen streamed in.
"It's nice to come here and do what we were capable of doing," outfielder Nick Swisher said.
Boston led 2-0 until the third, when Cabrera took a Paul Byrd (1-3) offering deep to right for a solo shot to halve the lead.
The Yankees went ahead to stay with a two-run single to right in the bottom of the sixth from Hideki Matsui. J.D. Drew made a great sliding attempt at the dropping hit but caught it on the hop.
Red Sox helped by Rays
Teixeira's insurance home run in the eighth off Daniel Bard gave him 120 runs batted in, which is tops in the AL.
The Red Sox squandered a chance for a healthy early lead.
Lowell singled in the first to score but came up with the bases loaded and none out in the third and hit into a double play. Jason Bay of Trail, B.C., scored his second run of the game on the play, but momentum was lost.
Byrd went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits.
The franchise has won the division 16 times since 1969.
Boston caught a break elsewhere when Tampa Bay scored four in the top of the ninth to defeat the Texas Rangers 7-6.
The result reduced Boston's magic number in the AL wild card race to two. They lead the Rangers by six games.
The Rangers loss also pushed the Los Angeles Angels one game closer to their third straight AL West crown. The Angels beat Oakland 7-4, reducing their magic number to two.
Detroit and Minnesota each lost on Sunday, meaning the Tigers retain a two-game lead in the AL Central over the Twins. The teams face each other for a four-game series beginning on Monday.
With files from the Associated Press
