The Yankees in the locker room on Wednesday night after beating Boston and clinching the American League East title, their 13th in the last 17 seasons.
On July 18, the Yankees owned a 10-game lead in the American League East, and nothing seemed capable of derailing their inevitable march to a divisional crown and a Champagne celebration. The coronation, however, was delayed much longer than anyone could have predicted.
Curtis Granderson hitting a three-run homer in the second inning on Wednesday. He homered again in the seventh, setting a new career high of 43 home runs.
Their commanding advantage dissolved to nothing on Sept. 4, and the Yankees were forced to play a month’s worth of tense, playofflike games to avoid the embarrassment of blowing such a large lead to the upstart Baltimore Orioles.
They never relented, but neither did the Orioles, and it took until the final day of the regular season for the Yankees to clinch the title, their 13th in the last 17 years. After so much extended tension, they exploded with a resounding 14-2 victory over the hapless Boston Red Sox that felt more like a victory parade than a competitive game.
In fact, the decisive moment came even before their game ended. It arrived in lights on the center-field scoreboard during Alex Rodriguez’s at-bat in the seventh inning, showing that Tampa Bay Ray had defeated the Orioles, 4-1.
“I knew those loud cheers weren’t for me,” Rodriguez said with a laugh. “My second thought was perhaps there was a fan on the field. It was just great when we saw the score and our coaches were hugging. That was a nice moment, and I won’t forget that for a long time.”
But the Yankees still had work to do and runs to score. The final out came when Freddy Garcia struck out Ivan DeJesus and gave an uppercut to the air as the Yankees streamed out of the dugout to celebrate.
It was their fourth consecutive win in the most critical moment of the season. Their late-season flourish with 16 wins in their final 21 games gave them the best record in the league (95-67) and a No. 1 seed, ensuring they will play the winner of Friday’s one-game wild-card playoff between the Texas Rangers and the Orioles.
The winner of that game will host the Yankees in the first two games of the best-of-five divisional series starting Sunday. If the Yankees win that series, they will have home-field advantage in the A.L. Championship Series.
After such a grueling month, the Yankees can use the rest, except for Robinson Cano, one of the hottest hitters in baseball entering the playoffs. Cano hit a pair of two-run homers Wednesday and knocked in a career-high-tying six runs to lead the march. He had four hits to record his ninth straight multihit game and was asked what he would think if he saw a hitter doing what he was doing.
“I’d say, That’s a great hitter; it’s what I’ve been saying about Miguel Cabrera,” he said, referring to the Detroit Tigers slugger who won the triple crown.
Curtis Granderson started the outburst with a three-run homer against Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second inning and almost caught Cabrera when he hit his 43rd home run in the seventh. The four home runs gave the Yankees 245 for the season, a franchise record that eclipsed the mark of 244 set in 2009, the year they won their last World Series.
Hiroki Kuroda, who pitched and won the home opener at the Stadium on April 13, bookended a fine first season with the Yankees by winning his 16th game. He pitched seven innings and allowed two runs and seven hits and easily outshined Matsuzaka in a duel of Japanese pitchers.
The Yankees led by 5-1 after three innings and just kept adding on.
“It’s nice because you can relax for second,” Manager Joe Girardi said, “and we have not been able to do that for a long time.”
Although the Yankees were guaranteed a place in the postseason via a wild-card berth clinched on Sunday night, they continued to press for the divisional crown with the same steely resolve they showed since the Orioles tied them in the standings Sept. 4. The Orioles were even with the Yankees for 10 days during September, including the last day of the month, but were never able to pass them.
The Yankees’ lead during the last 29 days never exceeded one and a half games, but each time the Yankees had to win to stave off a fall into second place, they did. The last time they were in second place was June 10.
The reason for their unyielding hold on the top spot in the division was Major League Baseball’s new postseason format. The Yankees wanted no part of the risky one-game wild-card playoff.
“We said all along, the one thing you don’t want to do is get in a one-game shootout,” Girardi said.
All the Yankees needed to do Wednesday was beat the staggering Red Sox to secure the division, but because of the lingering uncertainty before the game about what might happen, all the players had to bring a packed suitcase to the Stadium. All except one.
“I didn’t bring a bag,” closer Rafael Soriano said. “I knew I wouldn’t need it.”
Now, with three days off, the Yankees will exhale and hope that Cano does not lose his rhythm at the plate — and that their monthlong race for the division is not their only crowning achievement.
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