BOSTON (AP) Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton connected as the New York Yankees broke the major league record for home runs in a season and reached 100 wins with an 8-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Torres’ two-run drive in the fourth was the Yankees’ 265th of the year and moved them past the 1997 Seattle Mariners for the mark.
Stanton pushed the record to 266 in the seventh with his 38th homer, a solo homer to left field. A fan sitting in the seats above the Green Monster threw the souvenir back, and the ball bounced into Stanton as he rounded second base.
The Yankees, who will host Oakland in the AL wild-card game on Wednesday, improved to 100-61 – that still left them far behind the AL East champion Red Sox, who have set a franchise record for victories in going 107-54 with one day left in the regular season.
This is the 10th time in big league history that a team has won at least 100 games and not finished first. Since the start of division play in 1969, the only clubs that didn’t wind up on top despite triple-digits wins were Oakland in 2001 – which won 102 games to Seattle’s 116 – San Francisco in 1993 and Baltimore in 1980.
The Yankees joined Boston and Houston as teams to win 100 or more this season, making the AL the first league to have a trio of 100-win teams in the same year.
. New York reached 100 wins for the 20th time in franchise history and first since going 103-59 in 2009, when the Yankees went on to win their most recent World Series title.
Brock Holt hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Red Sox, who could be hosting the Yankees again in the AL Division Series starting week. The wild-card winner opens its best-of-five matchup Friday at Fenway Park.
New York homered four times Friday night in an 11-6 win over the Red Sox, which evened the Yankees with the 1997 Mariners ‘ total set by a lineup that included Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez. These Yankees became the first team to get at least 20 home runs from all nine spots in the batting order.
Miguel Andujar also set a club record with his 45th double, the most by a New York rookie since Joe DiMaggio set the previous mark with 44 in 1936.
Lance Lynn (10-10) got the win with three innings of relief, holding Boston to one run on two hits. Aroldis Chapman shut down Boston’s ninth-inning rally for his 32nd save.
Eduardo Rodriguez (12-5) pitched the third and fourth for Boston and took the loss, allowing three runs on four hits.
After Greg Bird’s RBI double put New York up 2-1 in the fourth, Torres hit a 1-1 pitch from Rodriguez out to right, sailing over the head of Blake Swihart at the bullpen wall and giving the Yankees the record-breaking 265th homer.
Andujar drove in two runs on a double duing New York’s three-run fifth and Stanton led off the seventh with his 38th homer, a shot off Steven Wright. Boston fans cheered when the fan threw the ball back and even Stanton smiled when the throw reached him on a bounce as he rounded the bases.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: RF Aaron Judge, whose eighth-inning homer Friday night tied the Yankees with the Mariners’ record, was out of the lineup after hitting the right-field wall while making a catch. Manager Aaron Boone said the Yankees were being cautious with Judge, who returned from the disabled list Sept. 14 with a wrist fracture. ”I think it’s a good day to get him down, as we’ve been going pretty hard with him too,” Boone said.
Red Sox: RF Mookie Betts was not in the lineup. Manager Alex Cora said Betts was getting a day off and was not injured.
UP NEXT:
Yankees: TBA. Boone said the Yankees would decide on a starter Saturday night as they plan ahead for the wild-card game.
Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (17-7, 4.33 ERA) is expected to throw a couple innings in the regular-season finale as Boston rests its rotation for the ALDS.
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