As the Yankees fulfill their professional obligations by playing the Kansas City Royals in a meaningless series, the Detroit Tigers will be hosting the Minnesota Twins in a four-game series that will likely decide who the Yankees face the American League Division Series.
The Tigers (83-72) lead the Twins (81-74) by two games with seven to [...]

Tonight: RHP Luke Hochevar (7-11, 5.98) vs. RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0, 3.71), 7:05, YES.
Tuesday: RHP Anthony Lerew (0-1, 3.86) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (12-9, 4.19), 7:05, YES.
Wednesday: RHP Robinson Tejeda (4-2, 3.41) vs. RHP Joba Chamberlain (9-6, 4.72), 7:05, YES.
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It’ll be interesting to see whether Joe Girardi gives everybody the day off today. He [...]

The Yankees celebrated their division title after beating the Red Sox.
Now the Yankees have a choice of which division series they want to play. This notebook also has updates on Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada.

Finally tonight, enjoy this shot Derek Jeter.
Two comments as well:
Joe Girardi: “It feels great. We had a lot of kids mature, we had a lot of people step up. We had a lot of people have great years, MVP-type years, Cy Young-type years. We got a lot out of this year. But this is only [...]

Mark Teixeira preferred a brew to the bubbly.

Suffice it to say, Nick Swisher was pretty pleased.

It’s always the young guys — and oddly those didn’t have much to do with it — who celebrate the most after a baseball team clinches.
Mo, Andy, Derek, Jorge, Johnny, CC and A.J. were pretty composed, repeatedly mentioning that the Yankees still had a lot of work to do.
Meanwhile a marauding gang of champagne sprayers [...]

The Yankees have beaten the Red Sox 4-2 to secure the American League East title and the best record in the AL, which brings with it home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
After a gloomy start to the day, the sun broke through the clouds late in the game and there were blue skies over the Stadium [...]

YANKEES (99-56)
Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Molina C
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-7, 4.15).
RED SOX (91-63)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Bay LF
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Varitek C
Gonzalez SS
Pitching: RHP Paul Byrd (1-2, 6.04).
TIME/TV: 1:05, ESPN.
STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: It’s pretty simple. The Yankees need one win in their last seven games to clinch the division title [...]

CC Sabathia continued to be an ace as the Yankees moved a step away from the division title.
A.J. Burnett is headed home and will have his start pushed back. This notebook also has updates on Dave Robertson and Jorge Posada.
Sam Borden reflects on the impact Johnny Damon has had on the Yankees.
The Baseball Beat looks [...]