NEW YORK — Time for the New York Yankees to celebrate.
Again.
Finally.
The Yankees secured the American League East crown with a 10-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles at rowdy Yankee Stadium before 42,022 fans on Thursday night.
The hugfest of an on-field celebration after the final out was surely cathartic for the Yankees, who missed chances to clinch first place in losses on Tuesday and Wednesday at home and with their magic number stuck at one.
The celebration actually started before the game ended. Staffers prepared the Yankees’ clubhouse to get soaked with beer and champagne in the eighth inning. There were even multiple golden bottles of Ace of Spade champagne, which retails for approximately $250 per bottle.
It was the Yankees’ AL-best 21st division title. They had already secured a first-round bye, allowing them to skip the AL Wild Card round and head straight to the Division Series.
The New York Yankees are American League East champions. pic.twitter.com/FA9XCisWIk
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) September 27, 2024
The Yankees’ biggest stars — the men they’ll rely on to take them deep into the postseason and to the World Series — all played headlining roles.
Ace Gerrit Cole twirled a gem, blanking the Orioles for 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five, allowed two hits and walked one.
When manager Aaron Boone pulled him from the game in the seventh with the Yankees ahead 7-0, Cole walked off to some of the loudest cheers of his Yankees career.
Cole out-dueled Orioles ace Corbin Burnes, who gave up just a run and struck out nine over five innings. The O’s pulled Burnes at 69 pitches, likely because they’ll want to give him plenty of rest to start Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series on Tuesday.
Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge were the other heroes.
Stanton crushed a home run in the second inning that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead they would hold until the sixth. After Austin Wells’ bases-loaded, full-count walk against Cionel Pérez made it 2-0, Stanton ripped a double to deep right-center field, clearing the bases. Jasson Domínguez then drew a two-out walk, which set the stage for Anthony Rizzo to tear a two-run single to right field.
And in the seventh, Judge struck after Juan Soto hit a one-out grounder to shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who booted it and threw it away, allowing Soto to reach first.
Two pitches later, Judge hit a high fly ball to deep left-center off Bryan Baker. The ball just barely cleared the wall for a 9-0 Yankees cushion.
Number 58 to the moon. #ALLRISE pic.twitter.com/ZBzIEDMdKk
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 27, 2024
In the eighth, Alex Verdugo hit a solo shot, which Baltimore followed in the ninth with a meaningless bases-loaded sacrifice fly off reliever Tim Hill.
The clinch came a week after Boone’s club grabbed the first playoff berth in the AL and celebrated by spraying dozens of bottles of champagne and beer in the visiting clubhouse at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
Before the game, Boone said he didn’t think the gravity of the matchup would weigh on Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner.
“I don’t think he lets himself go there,” Boone said. “I think he’s just focused on going out and just pitching well against a really good opponent. I don’t think he lets himself get caught up in that. He’s pretty good at being disciplined in his process.”
Their next goal? Finishing the season with the best record in the league, which would award them the top seed in the playoffs. The Yankees’ (93-66) only seemingly realistic threat to challenge them for the No. 1 seed would be the Cleveland Guardians (92-67). who already clinched the AL Central title. The Yankees own the tiebreaker over Cleveland.
It’s unclear, however, how seriously the Yankees will chase the top seed. They will also likely prioritize making sure stars Judge, Soto and Stanton get more than enough rest so that they’re healthy enough to spend October chasing the Yankees’ first World Series title since 2009.
The Yankees’ triumph happened a year after they finished a disappointing fourth in the AL East and missed the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. It also occurred as Judge (58 homers) is seemingly on track to win his second AL MVP award.
The Yankees and Orioles battled at the top of the division for most of the season. But the Yankees began pulling away this month. The Orioles haven’t been in first place since Sept. 6.
The Yankees’ 59 postseason appearances are the most by any franchise in MLB history and 21 more than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have the second-most.
“I’m proud of this group,” Boone said. “They’ve had a really good resolve to them going back to before spring training started.”
(Photo of Aaron Judge, right, celebrating with Juan Soto: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
