NEW YORK _ After 154 games, the inevitable was finally made official. On Thursday, the Yankees became postseason bound. A 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels gave the Yankees their 100th win of the season, as well as their 19th American League East division title.
It was the first division title for the Yankees since the 2012 season, when the Yankees clinched the title on the final day of the regular season.
Manager Aaron Boone earned his first division title as a manager. In his second season as Yankees manager, Thursday was his 200th managerial win after winning exactly 100 as a rookie manager last season. Boone becomes the first manager in history to have at least 100 wins in each of his first two seasons.
DJ LeMahieu's second inning home run put the Yankees in front for good. Brett Gardner reached on a fielder's choice and Austin Romine singled with two outs to set the stage for LeMahieu. LeMahieu, who entered play with the second-best batting average in the American League, smacked a three-run home run for his 25th homer of the season.
Brett Gardner helped to put the game out of reach with two big swings. In the fourth, Gardner came to bat with one out and hit his 26th home run of the year. The solo shot allowed the Yankees to reclaim a three-run lead at 4-1. The home run was the 290th of the season for the Yankees as a team, passing this season's Minnesota Twins for the most home runs by a team in baseball history.
Two innings later, Gardner came to the plate with two runners on and one out and struck a two-run double to put the Yankees up by five runs. It was the third time in the last eight games that Gardner had at least three runs batted in.
For good measure, two home runs in the ninth inning capped off a game worth celebrating. Cameron Maybin sent one into left field in the ninth inning to make it a 7-1 Yankees lead. Maybin, one of the players used prominently as the stars of the Yankees sat throughout the year, hit his ninth home run of the season. Two batters later, Clint Frazier hit his first home run since June 4. Frazier's two-run home run put the Yankees ahead, 9-1.
Masahiro Tanaka was masterful on the mound across his seven innings. Tanaka allowed just one run and three hits in his outing, not allowing a runner to reach second base outside of a Kole Calhoun solo home run in the fourth inning. Following Calhoun's homer, Tanaka retired 10 straight Angels. Tanaka struck out six and did not walk a batter for the third consecutive start. Tanaka threw just 86 pitches in his outing to earn his 11th win of the season.
Cory Gearrin pitched a perfect eighth inning, while closer Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth inning with an eight-run lead. Chapman struck out two and allowed a two-out single to Calhoun in his inning, but struck out Albert Pujols to finish it off.
With their 100th win of the season, the Yankees pulled even with the Houston Astros for the most wins in baseball. The Astros were off on Thursday and now cling to a percentage point lead for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, having played one game less than the Yankees have.
