Remember all the angst that smothered the Yankees’ across six months and especially when a double- digit lead vanished early last month. All those bulging veins in Joe Girardi’s neck. How about the uncertainties that surfaced when Mariano Rivera was lost in May with a knee injury and Andy Pettitte in June with a fractured ankle?
Through all that the Yankees came through the baseball gloom Wednesday night to cop the AL East by punishing the inept Red Sox, 14-2, at Yankee Stadium in front of 47,393.
Before the victory was complete the Yankees clinched their 13th AL East title when the second-place Orioles lost, 4-1, to the Rays. The score was posted at 9:56 p.m. in the home seventh with Alex Rodriguez at the plate and produced a standing ovation from the crowd.
The victory also pushed the Yankees’ record to 95-67, tops in the AL, and provides the home field advantage for the ALDS and ALCS.
Now, the Yankees will wait until the Rangers and Orioles play one game in the Wild Card round Friday to see who their best-of-five ALDS opponent will be. Game 1 is set for Sunday in Texas or Baltimore.
The Yankees were 9-9 against the plucky Birds and 4-3 versus the Rangers who had a 13-game lead over the A’s on June 30.
Avoiding a one-game playoff with the O’s to decide the AL East allows the Yankees to set up their starting pitching anyway they want.
CC Sabathia will pitch Game 1 and Pettitte is the likely Game 2 starter. The final three games will be played at Yankee Stadium if needed.
Robinson Cano continued a torrid hitting streak with two homers, a 4-for-4, one-walk night and a career-high six RBIs. In the past nine games Cano has at least two hits in each and is batting .615 (24-for-39).
Curtis Granderson also homered twice for the victors who finished the season on a four-game winning streak and set a franchise record with 245 homers that led the majors.
Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 and finished with a MLB-leading 215 hits. That’s four shy of his career-high 219 in 1999.
Hiroki Kuroda, a candidate to start Game 3 or 4, turned in his best performance since Aug. 25 at Cleveland and hiked his season win total to 16.
In seven innings Kuroda allowed two runs and seven hits.
Barring a miracle Bobby Valentine managed his final game for the Red Sox, who finished last in the East with 93 losses and on an eight-game losing streak in Valentine’s first season. He is expected to be let go shortly after going 5-13 against the Yankees.