HIGHER POWER: Robinson Cano sets the tone for a muscular nine-run second inning last night by launching a moonshot to center field, before Mark Teixeira, in his first game since Sept. 8, and a giddy Curtis Granderson (above) add long balls that crush the Red Sox in a 10-2 win at the Stadium. (Anthony J. Causi)
HIGHER POWER: Robinson Cano (top) sets the tone for a muscular nine-run second inning last night by launching a moonshot to center field. A giddy Curtis Granderson (below) adds a long ball as well as the Yanks’ crush the Red Sox in a 10-2 win at the Stadium. (
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The Yankees’ calling card all season has been touching four bases with one swing. Last night, they littered Yankee Stadium with round-trippers and muscled their way into first place in the AL East.
The second-inning power shower produced by Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin and Mark Teixeira delivered four homers and nine runs and carried the Yankees to a 10-2 victory over the hapless Red Sox in front of 45,478.
Coupled with the Orioles losing to the Rays, the Yankees moved one game ahead of the Birds in the AL East with two remaining. The Yankees’ magic number to cop their 13th AL East title is two. And combined with the A’s win over the Rangers, the Yankees and Texas are now tied in the race for the best record in the AL.
“We got all the horses in the stall and we are ready to run,’’ Nick Swisher said of welcoming back Teixeira back from a left calf injury.
Horses require jockeys and CC Sabathia was in the saddle last night.
Sabathia had a 9-0 lead when he took the mound for the third inning against a Red Sox lineup that should have had “Pawtucket” stitched across the front instead of “Boston.”
Dustin Pedroia was out with a finger injury and Jacoby Ellsbury wasn’t in the lineup because of a .214 lifetime mark (6-for-28 ) against Sabathia. Che-Hsuan Lin, who had nine big league at-bats, started in center for Ellsbury.
“You give CC a lead, and he takes care of the rest,’’ said Teixeira, who went 1-for-3 and drove in two runs in his first game since Sept. 8.
Clay Buchholz (11-8) took a beating. In 1 2/3 innings, the right-hander gave up eight runs and six hits, three of them homers.
The four Yankees home runs boosted the season total to a majors-leading 240. The franchise record is 244 set in 2009, when the Yankees won the World Series.
Cano’s tear continued. He went 3-for-5 to improve to 18-for-29 (.621) in the seven games, belted his 31st homer and drove in three runs.
“It’s been up and down and changing at the right time,’’ said Cano, whose homer hit a padded blue wall above the center-field netting. “We need to win right now.’’
It was the third time in Yankees history they hit four homers in one inning.
In his first game since Sept. 8, Teixeira hit his 24th homer. Granderson hit No. 41 and Martin popped his 21st.
Sabathia (15-6) went eight innings and finished the season with 200 innings, the sixth straight year the ace lefty has worked at least 200 frames. He allowed two runs and four hits. In his final three starts of the season, Sabathia worked 24 innings, went 2-0 and posted a 1.50 ERA.
“Every time I take the mound it’s a brand new game,’’ said Sabathia, who wasn’t sharp in the four starts before the final three. “No game is the same. It feels good to help the team in the three starts, and I hope I can keep it going.’’
With their postseason plans uncertain, Girardi could have hooked his ace earlier than the eighth and possibly had him available for a wild-card game Friday on short rest.
But the manager didn’t want to risk using relievers with rookie David Phelps starting tonight.
“We have Phelps going [tonight], and I want a full bullpen,’’ Girardi said.
Another four-homer inning also would help.
george.king@nypost.com