NEW YORK — The New York Yankees claimed the American League East title and the Oakland Athletics edged the Texas Rangers for the AL West crown on a tense final day of baseball's regular season Wednesday. The Yankees claimed the East when the Baltimore Orioles, who needed to win, lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays. New York, with the pressure off, celebrated in style with a 14-2 thumping of arch-rivals the Boston Red Sox. “Now the real season starts,” New York Yankees veteran Derek Jeter said. Oakland came from behind to beat Texas 12-5, moving straight into the divisional series while the Rangers — which had led the AL West comfortably for so long — were thrust into a one-off wild-card game against the Orioles. The low-budget A's clinched their unlikely title, trumping Texas by taking advantage of a dropped catching attempt by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and overturning a four-run deficit. Oakland had trailed Texas by 13 games a week before the midseason All-Star break. “It shows how important Game 162 is,” Oakland designated hitter Jonny Gomes said. “I don't think it took 162 games to check the character of this ballclub.” The Yankees claimed the AL East a few hours later. They began celebrating in the dugout during the seventh inning when the scoreboard showed second-place Baltimore had lost to Tampa Bay, thanks to three home runs by Evan Longoria. Rays 4, Orioles 1: Evan Longoria homered three times and the Rays beat Baltimore, ending the Orioles' bid to force a one-game tiebreaker for the AL East title. The loss left the Orioles as a wild-card team. They'll play Friday at Texas, with the winner advancing to the division series. Longoria finished the season with a bang for the second straight year, hitting solo shots off Chris Tillman in the first and fourth innings and adding another solo shot off Jake Arrieta in the sixth. With a chance to tie the major league record, Longoria grounded out in the eighth. Tigers 1, Royals 0: Miguel Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to achieve the Triple Crown in the AL Central-champion Tigers' victory over the Royals. Cabrera went 0 for 2 with a strikeout, then left in the fourth inning of the regular-season finale. He received a standing ovation from the opposing fans. White Sox 9, Indians 0: Dan Johnson hit his first three homers of the season and Chicago added two more in the game as the White Sox routed the Indians. Gavin Floyd (12-11) gave up three hits over seven innings. He struck out six, one short of getting 145 strikeouts for the fifth straight season despite being on the disabled list twice this year. Blue Jays 2, Twins 1: Brandon Morrow struck out a season-high 11, Omar Vizquel wrapped up his 24-year career and the Blue Jays beat the Twins to complete a three-game sweep. Mariners 12, Angels 0: Casper Wells tied a career-high with five RBIs including a three-run homer in Seattle's six-run seventh inning, and the Mariners routed the Angels. — Agencies
