Yankees 10, Orioles 1: Yanks recapture the AL East crown

Yesterday at 10:17 PM

A huge night from the offense and one last gem from Gerrit Cole guided the Yankees to the 2024 divisional title.

It has been a long and turbulent year for the Yankees, but September 26th brought a night of pure catharsis in the Bronx. Facing their toughest division rivals, the offense put up double-digit runs and the ace of their pitching staff shut down the Orioles lineup en route to the division-clinching victory.

With the win, the Yankees have now clinched the AL East for the 21st time, and for the third time in six seasons. They missed their first two chances to do so against Baltimore, but the third time was the charm. Giancarlo Stanton led the way at the dish with four RBI, Aaron Judge homered in his fifth straight, and the Yankee offense pounced on the Oriole bullpen when Corbin Burnes exited the game early. Gerrit Cole pitched scoreless ball into the seventh to end his regular season on a high note.

Both aces started on the right foot, with Burnes striking out the side against the top of the Yankee order in the first. But the Bombers struck first in the second. Burnes managed to sneak a lackluster slider past Giancarlo Stanton, but then he tried to do it again on the next pitch. Stanton was ready this time, launching it over Colton Cowser's head and into the first few rows of seats in left field. Home run number 27 for number 27 gave the Yankees the early 1-0 lead.

That was the only blip for either starting pitcher through the first five innings; Burnes collected five more strikeouts—all but one of his eight overall came on his trademark cutter—and Cole faced one over the minimum with no hits allowed through four. In the second, Cole notched his 2,246th career K, moving him past Eddie Plank for 61st all time. He's done quite a bit of climbing on that ledger this year despite the abbreviated regular season. Congrats to him!

Ramón Urías got Baltimore's first hit with two outs in the fifth, but Cole triumphed over Cedric Mullins in an epic nine-pitch battle to retire the side. Burnes got some help going 1-2-3 in the bottom half when Anthony Rizzo perplexingly swung on 3-0 and grounded to first for the last out.

In the sixth, Cole got to two outs and two strikes against Anthony Santander, and threw a curveball which looked to have barely scraped the top of the strike zone. Home plate umpire David Rackley called it a ball, much to Cole's chagrin. So the ace responded with a malevolent 98 mph fastball above the zone. Santander swung right through it, and Cole stared down Rackley on his way back to the dugout.

Meanwhile, in the other dugout, a bad omen was brewing for the Birds. YES cameras caught Burnes talking with Baltimore's pitching coach in the dugout, and soon after Yennier Cano began warming up. Burnes had only thrown 69 pitches, and looked outstanding the whole way, but he did not return for the sixth. Jon Morosi would later report that Burnes was uninjured, and that Brandon Hyde had made the move to manage his workload ahead of the postseason. In doing so, Hyde gave the Yankees the green light to take over the game.

Yennier Cano entered in Burnes' place, and promptly loaded the bases for Austin Wells. In came lefty Cionel Pérez to try and coax a double play. Wells had been doubled up earlier in the game, but this time the Yankee backstop was resolute in the box. Unwilling to take a bad swing that could end the rally, he worked the count full before taking a low sinker for ball four to force in a run.

It was among the most impressive plate appearances of the year for Wells, for whom one could probably compile a lengthy impressive-plate-appearance highlight reel. Most importantly, it kept the bases loaded for Stanton, who promptly unloaded them on a first-pitch ambush. He lashed a double into the right center gap, scoring all three runs for a 5-0 lead.

But the party wasn't over. After a groundout advanced Stanton to first, the Orioles sent in their third pitcher of the inning, Bryan Baker. Jasson Domínguez worked a walk against Baker, then stole second base with Anthony Rizzo at the plate. That steal came in handy when Rizzo roped a liner to the right field wall. Both runners scored on the single to make it a six-run sixth for a 7-0 lead.

The cheers from the crowd continued in the seventh, as Cole went back on the hill. He struck out Colton Cowser, then induced a lineout from Adley Rutschman. That second out brought Cole's pitch count into triple-digits, bringing Aaron Boone out of the dugout to retrieve his ace. Exiting to a thunderous ovation, Cole doffed his cap to the crowd in appreciation.

The 2024 season brought more adversity than usual for the Yankee ace, who started the year in the unfamiliar position of rehabbing an injury. The rotation was formidable in his absence, and in the last two months we have seen Cole finally return to full strength. He forayed into the seventh inning in each of his last two starts of the year after not making it there previously. His final line tonight: 6.2 innings, no runs, two hits, one walk, five strikeouts. The Cole Train's next stop: Game 1 of the ALDS.

Of course, no night of celebration in the Bronx would be complete without a swing of the mighty gavel from the captain. Aaron Judge came up in the seventh with a four-game homer streak on the line and skied a ball way up high in the air to left center. It looked at first like he had gotten underneath it—and he had, with a 42 degree launch angle. But because he is one of the strongest men ever to swing a bat, he detonated it at 110 mph, and that was all the fuel it needed to sail into the visitor's bullpen.

Judge's 58th home run of 2024 extended the streak to five games with a bomb, and he became the first player in franchise history with multiple such streaks in his career. It was also the 14th time Judge and Stanton homered in the same game this season; only Mantle and Maris in 1961 can match that. All rose once again, and the scoreboard read 9-0. Alex Verdugo added a home run of his own in the eighth—his 13th—to get the Yanks to double digits.

Tim Hill entered in the ninth to record the final three outs. He exchanged the second out for a run on a sac fly by Emmanuel Rivera before getting Mullins to tap out to short to seal the deal. Bring out the bubbly!

Tomorrow the Yankees will play their first game as AL East division champions. (That has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?) The Pittsburgh Pirates come to town for three to wrap up the year, with Carlos Rodón facing fireballing rookie Jared Jones in the opener. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM on YES. Celebrate responsibly, fellas!