Clinched: Yankees Win the American League East

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	8	0
Yankees	0	3	2	0	2	2	5	0	x	14	15	0

R

H

E

Red Sox

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

2

8

0

Yankees

0

3

2

0

2

2

5

0

x

14

15

0

R

H

E

Red Sox

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

2

8

0

Yankees

0

3

2

0

2

2

5

0

x

14

15

0

Hiroki Kuroda pitches against the Red Sox on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

It took them down to the wire, but the Yankees have done it. The Yankees have clinched the American League East for the eighteenth time in their 14-2 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday. The Yankees have won the American League East thirteen times in the last seventeen years. With their win tonight, the Yankees have  also clinched the best record in the American League. They will have home field advantage throughout the palyoffs up until the World Series. Even if they lost this game, the Yankees would still be crowned American League East Champions as the Orioles were defeated by the Rays.

Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and he picked up the win. Kuroda allowed 2 runs on 7 hits in 7 innings of work. He struck out 4 and walked 2. Kuroda finished his outing with 94 pitches thrown, in which 57 of them were thrown for strikes.

Robinson Cano led the charge offensively as he had a perfect night at the plate with four hits in four at-bats. He singled in his first at-bat, launched a two-run shot in the third, then another two-run shot in the fifth. He would top of his perfect night with a two-run single in the sixth inning. Cano would come up for a fifth time, but he would work a four pitch walk.

Read these stats. The following just goes to show how much of a hot streak Robinson Cano is on right now.

During his nine game hitting streak, Cano is 24-for-39 (.615) with 14 runs batted in, 11 runs scored, and 10 extra base hits. Out of those 10 extra base hits, 3 of them have been hit for home runs. He raised his average from .293 to .313 during this stretch.

With his outstanding performance tonight, Cano has driven in 6 runs batted in, which ties his career high. He last accomplished this on August 10th, 2010 against the Seattle Mariners.

Curtis Granderson also had himself a ballgame tonight as he went 2-for-4 with a pair of dingers. He drove in 4 runs tonight, which increased his season total to 102.

Ichiro Suzuki joined the fun as well as he drove in two with his double in the seventh inning.

The Yankee bullpen was solid as they shut down the door to secure the sweep of the Red Sox.

The Yankees will await their American League Division Series opponent as the wild card game will be played on Friday. The Yankees will either travel to Baltimore to play the Orioles or to Texas to play the Rangers.