Yanks Take AL East Behind Robinson Cano; Brandon Moss LeadsA's Win AL West; Miguel Cabrera Captures Triple Crown; NL Winners

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 3, 2012

American League

The New York Yankees wrapped up another AL East title on the final day of the season with a resounding, 14-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Curtis Granderson

Robinson Cano

Robinson Cano powered the 15-hit assault on seven Red Sox pitchers, banging a pair of two run homers, two singles, scoring three times and driving in six runs, going a perfect 4-for-4.

Curtis Granderson chipped in with a three-run homer and a solo shot, giving him 43 home runs on the year, tied for second in that category with the Rangers' Josh Hamilton.

The two fell one short of Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, who ended the season tops in batting average, home runs, and RBI, at .330, 44, and 139, respectively. Cabrera, who had finished atop each of the individual categories at least once before, put it all together in a remarkable season that led the Tigers to the AL Central pennant.

Cabrera is the first player since Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat in 1967. No National Leaguer has accomplished the Triple Crown since Frank Robinson, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, did it in 1966.

Brandon Moss

Cabrera: Triple Crown

In the AL West, the Oakland A's completed a remarkable run to capture the division title, winning three straight in Oakland from the Texas Rangers, completing a season-ending six-game winning streak with a 12-3 triumph. Brandon Moss led the A's with a single and double in four at-bats, driving in three runs.

The three division races in the AL were all close, the East and West coming down to the final day of the season. The Yanks finished two games ahead of Baltimore in the East, the Tigers topped the white Sox by three games in the Central and Oakland finished one game better than Texas in the West.

Baltimore and Texas will play a one-game wild card playoff on Friday in Arlington, Texas at 8:37 pm EDT.

National League

Posey: .336 BA

With playoff positions already decided in the National League, a salute to the individual category winners:

Buster Posey won the batting title, hitting .336, tops in the majors, for the San Francisco Giants.

Braun: 41 Homers

Ryan Braun led the league in home runs for the second straight season, belting 41 for the Milwaukee Brewers.

San Diego's Chase Headley drove in 115 runs to lead the league.

Clay Kershaw of the Dodgers led all starters with a 2.53 ERA and was second in strikeouts to the Mets' R.A. Dickey, who finished with 230. Kershaw had 229.

Washington's Gio Gonzalez was the league's top winner, with 21.

The NL playoffs get underway on Friday, when the two wild cards, St. Louis and Atlanta, meet for one game in Atlanta at 5:07 pm EDT.