http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/sports/baseball/new-york-yankees-boston-red-sox.html 2016-09-30 05:43:30 Yankees Eliminated From Postseason Contention Despite Beating Red Sox The Yankees guaranteed themselves a winning season with their 83rd victory of the year, but the Orioles topped the Blue Jays to end the Yankees’ hopes of a wild-card berth. === The last faint ember of hope was snuffed out on an unusual The Yankees beat the The hollow win was the fourth victory in a row for the Yankees, and it followed a dramatic victory on Wednesday capped by Mark Teixeira’s game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning. But the Red Sox won the American League East that night anyway, by dint of the Blue Jays’ loss. So, the Red Sox clinched the division with a loss, and the Yankees were eliminated with a win. It is the third time in the last four years that the Yankees have not made it to the postseason, and they have not won a playoff series since the 2012 division series. The deciding moment occurred in the bottom of the seventh, with one out and Starlin Castro at the plate. The out-of-town scoreboard simply flashed the Orioles’ final score and with little recognition of the moment on a cold, blustery night in the Bronx, the Yankees were eliminated. Since there is now no chance of the Yankees playing the Red Sox in the postseason, the game essentially marked the conclusion of David Ortiz’s career against the Yankees, which ended in muted fashion. Ortiz, the Red Sox’ designated hitter and a longtime Yankee tormentor, went 0 for 1 with a walk and was replaced by a pinch runner in the fourth inning. He was honored in a brief ceremony before the game and received standing ovations in both of his plate appearances against The fans also stood and cheered as Ortiz walked off the field, briefly touching the brim of his helmet as he descended down the steps of the dugout at Yankee Stadium for the final time as a player — unless he changes his mind about retiring. Sabathia, making his final start of a reclamation season, pitched well against a Boston team that may have been playing with a slight hangover after Wednesday’s celebration of the division title. He went seven and a third innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out eight with 105 pitches. Sabathia finished the season 9-12 with a 3.91 E.R.A. He had not had an E.R.A. lower than 4.00 since 2012 — the year he pitched the Yankees to a Game 5 win in the division series over the Orioles with a complete game to clinch their last playoff victory. The Yankees began this year with some promise, but spent much of the first few months either below or near the .500 mark and at the lower levels of the A.L. East. Things became so desperate that for the first time in a quarter of a century the team traded off veteran stars — most notably Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Miller — in exchange for prospects. They promoted and then gave more playing time to their own crop of youngsters, like Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin and especially Gary Sanchez. Along the way, they released Alex Rodriguez. If they did not fully raise the white flag of surrender, they at least unfurled it. But against all expectations, the new-look Yankees worked themselves back into contention. After winning seven in a row in September, they were 11 games over .500 and only three games off the division lead, and very much alive in the wild-card standings. But things changed drastically in Boston. The Yankees were swept in four games at Fenway Park — beginning with a dramatic comeback win by the Red Sox in which Ortiz had a home run in the eighth and a key ninth-inning single — and they went from four games out on Sept. 14 to eight out on Sept. 18. The Red Sox now head back to Boston for a three-game series with the Blue Jays and a weekend of celebrations to commemorate Ortiz’s 20-year career before beginning their postseason. Ortiz is in pursuit of his fourth World Series title since joining the Red Sox in 2003. The Yankees have won one in that time, in 2009. But even though much of Ortiz’s career was spent damaging the Yankees — he hit 52 regular-season homers against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox, and five more in the playoffs — the Yankees still held a short but respectful ceremony to honor him before the game. Then, as often happened during his 14 years in a Red Sox uniform, Ortiz had more work to do, while the Yankees’ season ended early.