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The New York Yankees clinched the American League (AL) East title with a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday evening.

The Bronx Bombers were spurred by the heroics of Aaron Judge, who went deep for the fifth straight game with a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

Should Judge go deep in Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he would become only the fourth player this decade to accomplish the feat. Joey Votto and Mike Trout scored seven straight games with home runs in July 2021 and September 2022 respectively, while Rafael Devers scored six straight in May of this year.

The two-run shot against the Orioles lifted Judge to an MLB-leading 58 on the year. The last two MLB players to score 58 in a season since 2007 were both in the Yankees’ lineup on Thursday: Judge himself hit an AL-record 62 in 2022, and Giancarlo Stanton had 59 in 2017 for the Miami Marlins .

Stanton was also heavily involved in New York’s comfortable win over Baltimore, where he picked up four RBIs and his 27th home run of the year.

Thursday’s game marked the fourteenth time this season that Judge and Stanton homered in the same game, tying the franchise record set by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961.

Stanton’s solo shot put the Yankees on the board in the second inning, but the major damage was done in the sixth after Orioles starter Corbin Burnes was replaced by Yennier Canó. After loading the bases, Canó was quickly substituted for Cionel Pérez, who walked Austin Wells and accounted for a run.

Things went from bad to worse for the Orioles in the next at bat, Stanton hit a double-to-bat in third and Anthony Rizzo hit a line drive single to right field to bring home two more, tying the score at 7 -0 came.

Judge’s home run in the seventh made it 9-0, then a solo shot by Alex Verdugo in the eighth made it 10-0. Emmanuel Rivera’s sac fly in the ninth was Baltimore’s only answer.

After missing the postseason in 2023, the Yankees have secured a first-round bye and home field advantage in the AL Division Series.

“Last year it came up short, it stings,” Judge said, according to AP. “It hurts just like any other year not to win a World Series, but that year hurt a little more. So we wanted to make a statement, come back here and put ourselves in a good position going into the postseason.”

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Dodgers secured their 11th National League (NL) West title in 12 seasons with a 7-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

After spending more than $1 billion on contracts this offseason, the Dodgers entered this year as understandable favorites for the division. But Los Angeles has suffered some significant injury setbacks — all five pitchers in the rotation to start the season have been injured or traded at least once.

“They all feel sweet, but I can tell you, man, with what we’ve been through this year, this feels a lot sweeter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told MLB.com. “I’m just so proud of these guys, the way we fought the adversity, stayed together and found a way to win this division again. It was hard fought; we earned it.”

It wasn’t easy for the Dodgers that night either. Will Smith trailed 2-0 in the seventh inning and tied the game with a two-run homer before Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single gave Los Angeles the lead. Mookie Betts’ two-RBI single made it 5-2, and Andy Pages hit a two-run homer in the eighth to complete the scoring.

It is the first time in seven seasons in the MLB that Japanese superstar Ohtani has reached the playoffs.

“I’m very happy,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton, according to MLB.com. “Today I came to the stadium wanting to qualify, and I’m glad we did that today. This series was something special. It was something that struck me this past year. Obviously, this is the reason I’m here (with the Dodgers).

There are many factors that can motivate a team. The promise of championships, an expectant crowd, the desire to send a retired teammate to a pinnacle.

Right now, it appears the Chicago White Sox are being spurred on by the threat of baseball’s disgrace.

The White Sox recorded their third straight win on Thursday, defeating the Los Angeles Angels 7-0 to once again ensure they don’t suffer a modern MLB record 121st loss of the season for a while.

Since Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, Chicago is tied with the 1962 New York Mets for most losses in modern Major League history, dating back to 1901, and avoided setting an outright record .

The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the all-time losing record as the then National League team finished with an abysmal record of 20-134. The Spiders have won just one of their last 41 games.

Chicago avoided the infamous milestone thanks to an outstanding 6 1/3 inning from starting pitcher Chris Flexen – who struckout seven and gave up only five hits – and a monstrous fifth inning in which the White Sox scored all seven runs. .

The White Sox are three wins away from avoiding becoming modern baseball’s worst team ever and their remaining games are against the Detroit Tigers, who are going for an AL Wild Card spot.

“I think the boys are excited after this series,” interim manager Grady Sizemore told AP. “It will be a nice atmosphere there. These guys are playing for (the) postseason. We go there to compete and not make it easy. We’re trying to get wins and just try to keep going.”