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Red Sox clinch AL East despite walk-off loss to Yankees

The Boston Red Sox got where many people expected on Wednesday night, clinching their third AL East title in the last 10 years, but the road they traveled to the top of baseball’s most volatile division wasn’t exactly predictable. And neither was their clincher.

The division crown was theirs after the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the Blue Jays 3-2 in Toronto on Hyun Soo Kim’s two-run homer, rendering the results of Boston’s game on Wednesday meaningless as far as the division title was concerned.

And good thing, because Boston blew a 3-0 lead, losing to the New York Yankees 5-3 on Mark Teixeira’s walk-off grand slam at Yankee Stadium. That spoiled the Red Sox moment to some degree, but the celebration was still on in the visitor’s clubhouse.

If everything goes the way it could for the Red Sox, they’ll have other moments to embrace and chances to celebrate in October.

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Now they’ll try to do what the 2013 club did and bounce back from a last-place season all the way to the World Series. They’ve proven themselves very capable run producers (first in MLB by a good margin), led by a dynamic young outfield and a slugging stalwart whose final bow has been impressive to watch. The pitching isn’t bad either (top 10 in ERA).

So where to start in unraveling these 2016 Red Sox? The obvious place is David Ortiz, who was supposed to be on his last legs, given his plans to retire at the end of the season. But those legs have still been good enough for 37 homers and 124 RBIs. Even the most devout followers of Big Papi have to consider this a pleasant surprise.

Then there was the much-talked-about Red Sox rotation, which added David Price on the biggest contract of the offseason (hello, $217 million) only to see him spend most of the season with an ERA above 4.00. Luckily, Rick Porcello came out of nowhere to become one of the most successful pitchers in the AL this season. His 22 wins are the most in baseball, and his 3.11 ERA in 217 innings are enough to earn him a spot in the Cy Young conversation, even if you think pitcher wins are an overrated stat.

Then there’s Hanley Ramirez, who revived his career at first base — 29 homers and 110 RBIs sure don’t hurt — and Xander Bogaerts, whose ascension isn’t surprising, but it *is* surprising just how good he is at age 23.

Red Sox outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. (center), Mookie Betts (right) and Chris Young doing their Win, Dance, Repeat dance. (AP)
Red Sox outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. (center), Mookie Betts (right) and Chris Young doing their Win, Dance, Repeat dance. (AP)

But you really can’t talk about the Red Sox without talking about their outfield, starting with Mookie Betts, who is every bit an MVP candidate after a breakout season at the plate (.321 batting average, 31 homers, 109 RBIs). Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. are outfield fixtures for the Sox, with Brock Holt, Chris Young and most recently rookie Andrew Benintendi making meaningful contributions in left. Together, they’ve done a good amount of Win, Dance, Repeat dances in the outfield.

Betts and Bradley have proven to be more than capable players. Both were first-time All-Stars in 2016. They also look like the next heartbeats of this team. With Ortiz on the way out and Dustin Pedroia getting older, the next generation Red Sox are here.

This year, we saw new and old functioning successfully in unison. And the results were quite good.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!