After spending most of the past week tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the division lead, the New York Yankees were looking for some separation. They found it after welcoming the Boston Red Sox to town.
The Yankees used a record performance to power by the Red Sox on Monday night, winning 10-2 to take a one-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East.
C.C. Sabathia had a stellar start for New York and the Yankees tied a team record with home runs in an inning by hitting four in the nine-run second inning. The team also got first baseman Mark Teixeira back after missing time with a calf injury.
"There's a lot of teams that would love to be in our position right now," Teixeira said to the Associated Press. "You can count all of the things that have gone wrong but, hey, we're right here where we want to be. And if we keep winning, we'll be division champions and have a chance to make a run in the playoffs."
The Yankees clinched a playoff spot on Sunday, the team's 17th playoff appearance in 18 seasons. The Orioles lost on Monday to the Tampa Bay Rays, which means the Yankees will win the AL East if they can sweep the Red Sox.
"That's what you want," manager Joe Girardi said. "That's what you hope that you have all the time when you're playing this game, that you can control your own destiny."
The game seemed to be over after the deflating second inning for the Red Sox. Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin and Teixeira all hit home runs, the third time in club history that the team hit four home runs in a single inning.
Sabathia pitched one of his best games of the year when the Yankees needed it most. He lasted eight innings, struck out seven and only gave up four hits and a walk. He has gone 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his past three starts and has also kept opponents to a .223 average in September.
I'm just trying to relax and not overthrow," Sabathia said.
The Yankees shelled Boston starter Clay Buchholz in the second inning, starting with a leadoff home run from Cano. He also hit an RBI double later in the inning as the team batted around the order.
"When Robby gets on these streaks, there's no one better in baseball," Teixeira said. "It looked like he was playing whiffle ball out there, just flicking the ball all over the ballpark."
Granderson hit a deep, two-run home run to the second deck of the stadium and catcher Russell Martin hit a solo shot that had to be confirmed on video review. Teixeira hadn't played since Sept. 8, but looked fresh as he added another two-run home run, scoring Cano.
Alex Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly in the inning to tie Stan Musial for fifth place on the all-time RBI list at 1,950.
Boston has been playing terrible baseball in the second half and the Yankees took advantage. The loss was the sixth in a row for the Red Sox and gave the team the most losses in a season (91) since the 1960s.
"You play the cards that you have," Valentine said. "That's all we have right now."
The Yankees have a good chance to win the division, but there still is the possibility that they will end up in the one-game, wild-card playoff that will take place Friday.
I'm not worried about Friday. I'm worried about today, and now that today is over, I'm worried about tomorrow," Girardi said. "I think if you start thinking too far ahead, you can get yourself in a bad position."
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