WE’LL CC YA IN OCTOBER
The fight is over. For one day, at least.
The Yankees gave the Red Sox hell all season, but Boston claimed the 2017 AL East division title on Saturday with its victory over Houston at Fenway Park.
The Bombers also defeated the Blue Jays 2-1 at Yankee Stadium.
They will officially face the Twins on Tuesday night in the Bronx in the do-or-die AL wild-card game, with Luis Severino opposing Ervin Santana.
“I think we’re a club that’s fighting for our division. That’s who I think we are,” Joe Girardi said back in December. For 161 games, they did. CC Sabathia, who started instead of Jaime Garcia given that the Bombers were still alive going into the day, provided 5.2 shutout innings while Aaron Judge provided a mammoth homer — his 52nd of the year. Judge, a candidate for AL MVP honors, has 15 homers and 32 RBI in September alone.
Sabathia (5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K) picked up career win No. 237 — ending the regular season in fine fashion. The 37-year-old, in the final year of his deal at $25 million, finished 14-5 with a 3.69 ERA. The Yankees went 19-8 in his starts.
Tommy Kahnle failed to retire either of the batters he faced to open the eighth. The Blue Jays got within a run on Josh Donaldson’s sacrifice fly. But David Robertson ultimately worked out of trouble. Robertson has thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings.
Aroldis Chapman recorded his 22nd save in 26 chances. He has retired 36 of the 41 batters he’s faced in September.