NEW YORK - The Yankees got exactly the kind of Sunday they needed against Boston, and then some.
The 16-1 blowout did more than pad the standings. It gave New York a firmer grip on the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Red Sox, a detail that could matter plenty if the two clubs finish with the same record and wind up in a wild-card series. Jose Caballero pointed back to last year for the reminder.
“We saw it last year,’’ said Jose Caballero, referencing the Blue Jays’ home-field advantage in their 2025 AL Division Series win, due to Toronto’s better head-to-head record.
That’s why Caballero said the win “means a lot,’’ especially after the Yankees closed their regular-season set with Boston at 7-6.
“It could be down to the tiebreaker at the end.’’
New York now sits at 78-59, still 4.5 games behind the AL East-leading Rays, but in a stronger position to secure the top wild card. The Yankees hold a four-game cushion over Boston at 74-63 as September approaches.
Sunday also brought a bit of relief on the injury front. Rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. was available only in an emergency, according to manager Aaron Boone, after leaving Saturday’s second game of a doubleheader with right knee discomfort. An MRI showed no structural damage.
“Definitely (feels) better than (Saturday),’’ Lombard said before the game, dealing with “a little inflammation and kind of soreness in the patella/kneecap area.’’
Lombard is day to day, and Boone said he could miss Monday’s series opener against the Angels as the Yankees begin a six-game West Coast trip. Even so, the club appears to have avoided a 10-day injured list stint.
“They don’t seem too concerned by it,’’ said Boone. “But we’ve got to get the discomfort and the swelling out of there.’’
Lombard said the issue started on a pitch Saturday when he checked his swing and tried to avoid getting hit, then felt the knee tighten later.
“One of those weird, freak things,’’ said Lombard, who felt the knee tighten later. “I didn’t want to push it too much.’’
With Lombard out Sunday, Caballero handled shortstop and chipped in three hits, including a late three-run homer off a position player on his 30th birthday.
Anthony Volpe also kept moving around defensively at Triple-A, making his second straight start at third base Sunday while continuing to play shortstop and second base “to kind of expand his versatility,'' said Boone.
The biggest swing of the afternoon belonged to Heliot Ramos. After 20 games in pinstripes, he entered Sunday with a .119 average and a .460 OPS, still looking for his first homer as a Yankee. He left with a breakthrough.
Ramos went 2-for-2, walked twice, reached base all four times and blasted a three-run homer off Boston lefty Ranger Suarez to stretch New York’s lead to 5-0 in the fifth.
“I thought he was going to do a cartwheel around third,'' said Boone.
Ramos admitted the slow start after his trade from San Francisco had weighed on him.
“I'm an emotional guy,'' and the slow start since his trade from San Francisco weighed on him.
“It really feels good to produce and feel a part of this team,'' said the righty slugger. “They know I needed this, they know how hard I was working.’’
That fifth inning started with Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sinking liner, which was ruled trapped by Ceddanne Rafaela in center field. That call set up Paul Goldschmidt’s go-ahead two-run single and opened the door for Ramos’ blast.
“It was a big play in the game that went our way,'' said Boone, but “Heliot's at-bat was massive.''
On the mound, Will Warren delivered the kind of outing the Yankees have been waiting for. Boone called it “probably his best performance of the year,’’ and Warren backed it up by working seven shutout innings before Boston finally scratched out its lone run in the eighth.
Roman Anthony opened the game with a double, but Warren settled in from there and “kind of had them on their heels,’’ said Warren, who also drew a “really cool’’ ovation.
He finished with 98 pitches after the first two Red Sox batters reached in the eighth, leading to Boston’s only run.
Anthony went 2-for-4 and Trevor Story was 2-for-3 in their returns to Boston’s lineup after coming off the IL for the first time since May, but Warren’s mix of sweepers, sinkers, changeups and fastballs kept the Sox under control.
By the time Boston was done, the Yankees were still piling on. They homered twice off middle infielder Andruw Monasterio, and Austin Wells made a little club history of his own.
Wells became just the sixth Yankee to homer twice in the same inning, the last coming from Gleyber Torres in 2022 against Pittsburgh. His first shot, also his first since Aug. 3, came off lefty Jovani Moran.
The left-handed hitting catcher also joined a small list by homering twice in a game he did not start, becoming the sixth Yankee to do that. Trent Grisham had done it earlier this year against the Angels.
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