BUMMER IN BRONX
Red Sox clinch AL East, celebrate at Stadium after bashing Bombers
RED SOX 11 YANKEES 6
It was subdued and surreal. The Red Sox ran onto the Yankee Stadium field as Frank Sinatra sang the Yankees’ victory anthem “New York, New York.” Giancarlo Stanton glanced out at the group hugging and congratulating each other for winning the American League East division title.
“They can celebrate now,” the Yankee slugger said, “we have time to celebrate later.”
The Red Sox rallied for an 11-6 victory over the Yankees Thursday night. It was their 104th win and the one that clinched the division title over the Bombers.
The loss also dropped the Yankees back to a a 1.5-game lead over the A’s for the AL’s top wild-card spot and the home-field advantage that goes with it.
“This stings a little bit,” Aaron Boone said, “but we also feel like we’ve gotten our guys back, we feel like we’re in position to hopefully takeoff and really start playing well.
“We’ll have that expectation and intention going into tomorrow,” the Yankee manager added.
Boone had stood in the dugout for minutes after the last of his players had filed past him, back to the clubhouse.
There, Stanton was talking about having seemingly rediscovered his swing at just the right time. The Yankee slugger had briefly given the Bombers hope that they would be able to avoid watching the Red Sox celebrate the division title in the Bronx.
Stanton hit a fourth-inning grand slam that the Yankees have to hope gets him back on track.
“It was a good push,” Stanton said of his second grand slam this season and the seventh of his career. “It was good to help the team.”
It probably allowed Boone to sleep a little better.
Stanton went into Thursday night’s game with a slash line of .136/.212/.237 with one home run and five RBI in 15 games. There have been a smattering of boos this home stand as Stanton has struggled, also reminiscent of the beginning of his Yankee career.
He is struggling with some of the same issues that plagued him to begin the season.
“The timing, which we obviously saw a little bit early, when he was fighting to get traction before he really got going, the timing has been a little bit off,” the Yankee manager said before the game. “He kind of has, without getting too far into the woods on it, that gather, where he gets into position, which is really where every hitter strives to be on time and be in that good position to hit. He’s had a little bit of a hard time of being on time consistently, the result is you don’t swing at pitches you should be or you are a little behind because you are not on time.
“That is what he is really battling to find, that good timing, I believe he will,” Boone added. “It gets really impactful when he does.”
Thursday night, Stanton showed how impactful his bat can be. After having fallen behind 4-2 with Masahiro Tanaka struggling, Stanton put the Yankees ahead 6-4.
The Red Sox chased Tanaka in the fifth after he allowed a leadoff double to Mookie Betts, who scored on J.D. Martinez’s ground out.
In the seventh, Chad Green gave up a solo, game-tying homer to Jackie Bradley, Jr. and the Red Sox took the lead on Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly and a throwing error.
The only thing the Yankees can take away from this is the hope that it gets Stanton going for October.
So Boone plans to help Stanton by resting him — and all his regulars — in the final week, specifically Stanton. He started every day for more than two months and was carrying the heavy burden of hitting second while Aaron Judge was out with a broken wrist. He did that while nursing a tight left hamstring that kept him from playing the outfield, but had him as the DH for much of August.
“As much as he’s played, there is wear-and-tear that goes with that. I think that’s where it’s affected his legs a little bit,” Boone said. “I really don’t think that there is anything preventing him from getting rolling again.”
Bosox celebrate division title in Bronx, of all places