Yankees Magic Number: Impressive win over Red Sox puts clinch into focus

What a win for the New York Yankees. On Friday night, the Bombers marched into Boston and took down the Red Sox 4-1 to take a 1.5-game lead over their rivals in the Wild Card picture. Aaron Judge passed Joe DiMaggio on the Yankees' all-time home run list.

With the victory, the Yankees' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 10. That would be good for the sixth and final Wild Card spot. To clinch the top spot in the WC picture, the Yankees' magic number is 14. Right now, they do not control their own destiny to clinch the AL East. They'll need help from the Toronto Blue Jays in that regard.

The Yankees are 82-65 and have two games left against the Red Sox this weekend. New York is three games back of the Blue Jays for the AL East lead. Boston is right behind them at 81-67 and the final spot is currently a tie between the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners (both of whom are also tied atop the AL West division). The Texas Rangers are two games back of the final spot and the Cleveland Guardians are 3.5 games back.

Fenway Park has been a house of horrors for the Yankees of late. New York has had a lot of trouble against their rival since 2023, so the fact they were able to squeeze out a series-opening victory was a massive exhale for Yankees fans who were desperately hoping for a positive start.

Yankees Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot: 10

Luis Gil had his best start of the season, logging six shutout (and hitless) innings. The Red Sox scored just one run on two hits and five walks. They made three errors. The Yankees terrorized them on the base paths, stealing three bags and taking extra bases on multiple occasions. Jose Caballero sprinting for home on a grounder to second and scoring after forcing an errant throw had the Yankees looking like a completely different team.

And how about Devin Williams coming in to pitch a scoreless eighth inning to maintain the Yankees' three-run lead? That felt like a dream.

The Yankees aren't out of the woods yet, and they could very well still lose this series. But a win on Friday put them in the driver's seat to help their cause for the rest of the way. If they can grab two out of three in Boston before finishing the year against the Twins, Orioles and White Sox, while the Blue Jays have the Rays, Royals and Red Sox, there's still a solid chance New York captures the division.

We'll have magic number update for that if they can find a way to slip into first place before the end of the season.