RED SOX CLINCH
Betts, Boston beat the sloppy Yankees, 11-6, to win the AL east.
NEW YORK — Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox won their third consecutive AL East championship Thursday night, clinching on enemy turf with an 11-6 victory over the rival New York Yankees.
Betts homered, doubled twice and drove in five runs, finishing with four hits as the Red Sox overcame Giancarlo Stanton's go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a tying home run in the seventh and Xander Bogaerts put Boston ahead with a sacrifice fly.
With the best record in baseball and a playoff berth already secured, Boston (10449) closed out a once-tight division race with nine games to spare. The Red Sox, alone in
first place since July 2, will open the postseason at home in Fenway Park on Oct. 5 against an opponent to be determined.
“We haven't won what we want to win yet,” Betts said in a champagnesoaked clubhouse.
Never before had Boston finished in first place three years in a row. The club needs one victory to match the franchise record held by the 1912
World It took Series three champions. tries, but these Red Sox finally earned their chance to celebrate at Yankee Stadium under rookie manager Alex Cora.
“To be able to do it here — obviously we know the history,” Cora said. “It feels great.”
Boston entered the three-game series needing a single victory to lock up its fourth AL East title in six years, but the Yankees put the party on hold with two straight wins.
Stanton Craig for Kimbrel the final whiffed out, out and of the the Red dugout Sox strolled to give each other hugs and highfives in a muted celebration around the mound. They walked off the field and headed inside to cheers from Boston fans behind the third base dugout.
Then, it was time to break out the bubbly in the Bronx.
“It feels good, man. We're not going to hide it,” Cora said. “We're going to celebrate, we're going to enjoy it. This is a tough division. That team we just played, they're amazing. They're having a great season.”
Ortiz's Red Two Sox years final celebrated ago, season, in in David the the visitors' clubhouse at Yankee Stadium after wrapping up the division crown in New York. But that came in the wake of a loss—after MarkTeixeira's game-ending grand slam gave the Yankees a comeback win.
“Kind of a stab in the heart,” Betts recalled.
About 30 minutes earlier, the Red Sox had clinched when Toronto lost to Baltimore. So they went ahead and celebrated their season accomplishment with a booze-filled fiesta. just This right. time, they did it “This is just the first step,” outfielder Andrew Benintendi said. “We came into the year expecting to win. We knew what kind of team we had.” Boston's magic number is two over Houston to clinch home-field advantage throughout the postseason. After starter Eduardo Rodriguez walked a career-high seven in 3 2⁄
3 innings, knuckleballer Steven Wright ( 3-1) worked three shutout innings for the win. ered Brock for the Holt Red also Sox, hom- and J.D. Martinez increased his major league-leading RBI total to 124 in a game that took 4 hours, 2 minutes. New York's lead for the top AL wild card was shaved to 1 1⁄ games over
2 Oakland, which routed the Angels 21-3. Betts, a top contender for AL MVP, opened the game with a double off the left-field fence against Masahiro Tanaka and scored on Martinez's single. Betts added a two-run single in the second, then doubled and scored in the fifth. Bradley tied it 6-all with a leadoff homer in the seventh against Chad Green (8-3). Christian Vazquez singled, and Boston loaded the bases before Bogaerts delivered his sacrifice fly. Another run scored on the play when center fielder Aaron Hicks was charged with a throwing error. Betts launched his 30th home run in the eighth, a three-run shot off All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman, who was activated from the disabled list Wednes-day Luke Voit hit a two-run homer for New York.