More than an hour after beating the Minnesota Twins 5-2 Friday night, the Red Sox could celebrate: They were the AL East champions for the first time since 1995.

Their clinching became official when New York lost to Baltimore 10-9 in 10 innings. Boston manager Terry Francona stayed in his office with general manager Theo Epstein and owners John Henry and Tom Werner to watch that game end.

"I pulled my hamstring jumping off the couch," Francona said. "It's fun to see grown men act like little kids."

With Boston's win, New York's loss and Cleveland's 5-3 victory over Kansas City, the AL playoff pairings were set: The Los Angeles Angels will open at Boston, and the wild-card Yankees will start at Cleveland.

"We're going to play even up with everybody now. That to me is more important," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Sure, you'd love to win the division. What it took us to get to the postseason, obviously the way we celebrated, that's the most important thing."

In Boston, there seemed to be a different view. The Red Sox prevented the Yankees for clinching a 10th straight AL East title, and their fans enjoyed it.

As Papelbon danced barefoot in the infield and Daisuke Matsuzaka bowed to a group, the sound system at Fenway Park cranked up "Don't Stop Believin'." The message board on the center-field scoreboard flashed: "CHAMPIONS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST."

There were more than a thousand fans left inside, and their cheers echoed all around the ballpark.

"It's as good as it gets," Henry said while holding a victory cigar. "To win the division, that's what you want to do."

Matsuzaka (15-12) pitched eight innings and won for only the second time since early August. David Ortiz hit his fourth home run in seven games.

Papelbon finished for his 37th save in 40 opportunities. Kevin Slowey (4-1) lost for the first time in the majors.

"It's October," said Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, drenched in champagne. "That's when great players play great. Hopefully, we have a few in this clubhouse."

In other AL games, the Angels beat Oakland 2-0, Seattle topped Texas 6-4, Chicago beat Detroit 5-2 and Toronto defeated Tampa Bay 5-4.

Orioles 10, Yankees 9, 10 innings

At Baltimore, a rare blown save by Mariano Rivera let the Orioles rally past New York.

Jay Payton's bases-loaded triple with two outs in the ninth off Rivera made it 9-all. The Orioles loaded the bases again in the 10th and Melvin Mora dropped down a two-out bunt single.

Rivera blew a save chance for the second time since April 28. Edwar Ramirez (1-1) took the loss and Chad Bradford (4-7) got the win.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 54th homer and drove in four runs, giving him 155 RBIs.

Indians 5, Royals 3

At Kansas City, C.C. Sabathia posted his 100th career victory and Cleveland earned home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Sabathia (19-7) was OK after being hit in both wrists by line drives from Mark Grudzielanek. The big lefty is 5-0 in his past six starts.

Sabathia is 1-7 with a 7.13 ERA lifetime against the Yankees, but has not faced them since 2004. He was hardly concerned that the Indians lost all six games to New York this season.

"Bring them on," he said.

Joe Borowski closed for his league-leading 44th save in 52 opportunities. Kyle Davies (3-7) did not make it through the fourth inning.

Angels 2, Athletics 0

At Oakland, John Lackey won again and Vladimir Guerrero homered as Los Angeles ended a three-game losing streak.

Lackey (19-9) allowed two hits in seven innings and leads the AL with a 3.01 ERA. Justin Speier pitched the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 39th save.

Guerrero hit his 27th homer in the fourth off Dan Haren (15-9). The Angels star left in the eighth after getting hit by a pitch from Andrew Brown.

White Sox 5, Tigers 2

At Chicago, Jim Thome hit his 506th career home run and Paul Konerko had a three-run shot for the White Sox.

Magglio Ordonez got two hits for Detroit and leads the majors in batting at .360.

Javier Vazquez (15-8) won and Bobby Jenks got his 40th save. Kenny Rogers (3-4), who missed the first three months because of a blood clot in his shoulder, went 0-4 in his final nine starts.

Mariners 6, Rangers 4

At Seattle, rookie Jeff Clement hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning to lead the Mariners over Texas.

Clement connected off Mike Wood (3-2). J.J. Putz (6-1) got the win.

Blue Jays 5, Devil Rays 4

At Toronto, Adam Lind and Matt Stairs hit home runs for the Blue Jays.

Carlos Pena hit his 45th home run for Tampa Bay. He has a team-record 12 homers in September.

Dustin McGowan (12-10) was the winner and Jeremy Accardo got his 30th save. Andy Sonnanstine (6-10) lost for the first time in eight starts.