NEW YORK – It took them three tries, but in the end, there was no postponement to the inevitable: the Boston Red Sox won the title of the American League East.

With an 11-6 victory on Thursday night in the Bronx, the Red Sox won a third consecutive AL East title for the first time in franchise history. And they may be experiencing the best season in franchise history – at 104-49, they even drew with the Sox in 1946 to win the second-most number of wins.

Two other players in their last nine games, and the freshman team from Joey Cora's team will top the 1912 Red Sox standings (105 wins) for the franchise record.

This team won the World Series, and these Sox actually have similar dreams.

MVP champion Mookie Betts scored his fourth shot of the night, Aroldis Chapman dominated the Red Sox by two to five points. It was Betts' 30th circuit of the season and his batting average was .339. his five races conducted gave him 77 year.

Winning the East was just a formality for the Red Sox, who had a 9½ lead over the Yankees before the Thursday final in a three-game series. Nevertheless, it took them three tries in the Bronx to put the division aside, eventually winning it in a slugfest.

It seemed that the winner was coming to Cleveland after Giancarlo Stanton welcomed reliever Heath Hembree with a grand slam for a 6-4 lead in New York after four innings. But the Red Sox – leading the AL in the heats, batting average and OPS – tied Brock Holt and Jackie Bradley Jr.'s Dellin Betances home test score.

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Knuckleballer Steven Wright has launched three non-profit goals, and his colleagues Ryan Brasier and Craig Kimbrel have eliminated it, causing the inevitable yet joyous celebration.

The Sox took first place in East Asia on July 2 and have not looked back since then.

The Red Sox met nine times on Tuesday, but the collapse of a center made Neil Walker's win and a home run helped the Yankees to a 3-2 win. New York then won a 10-1 win on Wednesday night.

The Red Sox are expected to play the role of Survivor of the Wild Yankees-Oakland Athletics card game in the AL Division Series. Boston has succumbed to ALDS over the past two seasons, in Cleveland in 2016 and in Houston in 2017.