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Yankees clinch season series, tiebreaker over Red Sox with consequential 16-1 win in finale
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- Yankees clinch season series, tiebreaker over Red Sox with consequential 16-1 win in finale
It hadn't been a banner August for Will Warren , who entered Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Boston Red Sox with a 5.89 ERA this month.
Same went for Heliot Ramos, a trade-deadline acquisition who was hitting .119 through his first 20 games as a Yankee .
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But Warren and Ramos came through in Sunday's 16-1 win over the Red Sox in the Bronx — a victory with significant playoff ramifications as the Yankees clinched the season series over their century-long archrivals.
Warren stifled the Red Sox over 7+ innings, and Ramos clubbed a three-run home run — his first homer as a Yankee — that uncorked his team's offensive eruption.
After winning three of four against Boston over the weekend, the Yankees (78-59) boast a four-game lead over the Red Sox (74-63) with no more head-to-head meetings remaining.
And by virtue of finishing 7-6 against the Red Sox, the Yankees own the tiebreaker over Boston, too, effectively giving them a five-game advantage.
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"It means a lot, especially with how close they are in the standings," said Yankees shortstop José Caballero, who went 3-for-5 with a three-run home run on his 30th birthday.
"We know that it could be down to a tiebreaker at the end for the division or for the wild card, so it's huge to have the advantage for those."
The Yankees still trail the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays by 4.5 games in the American League East, but they possess the AL's top wild card spot. Boston holds the AL's second wild card position.
If the season ends that way, the Yankees and Red Sox would face each other in the best-of-three Wild Card round of the playoffs — all in the Bronx.
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That would mark a rematch of last year's Wild Card series, when the Yankees defeated the Red Sox in three games in the Bronx.
Last year, the AL East title came down to a tiebreaker, which the Toronto Blue Jays held over the Yankees. It proved consequential, as the Jays received home-field advantage in the ALDS and defeated the Yankees in four games.
"We're trying to win," manager Aaron Boone said. "We've got to play well down the stretch here. We want to do as well as we can. As much as it's like, 'We've got to win this one to have this,' like, it's kind of out of your control. We're just trying to go play and win."
The resurgent Red Sox entered the series with a 41-14 record since June 25 — a historic hot streak in which they transformed from disappointing cellar-dwellers to playoff contenders.
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But the Yankees accomplished what they needed to by beating Boston on Friday, splitting Saturday's doubleheader and winning Sunday's finale.
The Yankees smacked five home runs — including two against a position player — and finished with 18 hits Sunday, but the biggest standout was Warren.
A day after the Yankees needed 9.2 innings out of their bullpen during Saturday's doubleheader, Warren provided length and effectiveness, limiting the Red Sox to one run over his 7+ innings.
"Probably his best performance of the year," Boone said, lauding the right-hander's stuff.
"Going in, you're like, 'I don't know how we're getting to the finish line today.' But Will Warren changes all that."
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Warren struck out seven, walked only one and improved to 9-6 with a 4.23 ERA. He exited in the eighth to a loud ovation.
"I was fearless in the zone," Warren said. "I talk about that a lot, getting ahead and attacking early, and I think we did a good job of that today and had them on their heels."
Sunday's game started as a pitcher's duel, as Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez kept the Yankees off the board through four innings.
But the Yankees broke through with five runs in the fifth — a rally that included a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single that Boston center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela attempted to catch on a dive.
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It was ruled a hit on the field, which stood after an official review.
"It was a big part of today's game," Caballero said. "It changed the momentum for us. It changed the momentum for them as well, on the wrong side. … It gave the whole team a chance to score some runs."
Indeed, Paul Goldschmidt followed with a two-run single through a pulled-in infield to break a scoreless tie.
Ramos then struck his three-run home run against Suarez to cap the rally.
Acquired from the San Francisco Giants to crush lefty pitching, Ramos was pressed into everyday duty — much of it against right-handers — while Cody Bellinger was sidelined due to a hamstring strain.
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Ramos began Sunday just 7-for-59 with one RBI since the trade, but he fared better against lefty-heavy Boston, finishing with four hits and four walks over the weekend.
He went 2-for-2 with two walks and three RBI in Sunday's win.
"It's baseball. Things happen," Ramos said after his 416-foot home run. "I just think it's knowing that I belong here — knowing that I got here, I'm here — and I know I can do it on the big stage. I can help this team."
The Yankees piled on from there, hitting four home runs during a nine-run eighth inning, including back-to-back blasts by Austin Wells and Goldschmidt against reliever Jovani Morán.
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Boston then turned to utility man Andruw Monasterio to record the final two outs, and he surrendered home runs to Caballero and Wells, who provided just the seventh instance of a Yankee homering twice in the same inning.
"I loved the energy that we came in with today, and I felt it right away," Boone said. "It felt like we had a pep in our step coming off a day-night doubleheader into the day game. … That was really good to see, and then we go out and play a really good game."
