The Yankees are once again champions of the American League East.
After defeating the Orioles 10-1 on Thursday, the Yankees are guaranteed home field advantage in the ALDS as they begin their hunt for their 28th championship.
The Yankees are now winners of the AL East for the 21st time in franchise history and three of the past five seasons.
“Really proud of this group. We’ve had to deal with a lot this year and they’ve responded at every turn,” says the manager Aaron Boone YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits said after the game. “We wanted to win the division when we started this. It’s another box ticked, but we still have more to go.”
“Extremely proud”, Aaron Judge said about this year’s team. “You have to celebrate the little things. It’s a lot of hard work to win a division with the teams that are in our group. We’re going to celebrate tonight and look forward to October.”
Judge launched his MLB-leading 58th home run of the season on Thursday and was the main force behind this year’s success.
The last time the Yankees won the AL East (2022), they reached the ALCS before being bounced by the Houston Astros in four games.
With a spot in the postseason, the Yankees will now set their sights on the top seed in the American League. Entering their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Yankees’ magic number is two as they look to hold off the Cleveland Guardians, who will face the Astros to close out the regular season.
“Hopefully we can have a good weekend and get back on track,” Boone said later about playing in front of home court. “But this was a big one.”
Winning the No. 1 seed will give the Yankees home field advantage during the playoffs and keep the AL West champion Astros on the other side of the bracket.
Once the Yankees face the Astros, they would be in the ALCS.
