Boston Red Sox set franchise wins record with 106th victory of season
The 2018 Boston Red Sox are the winningest team in franchise history.
With a 6-2 victory over Baltimore Orioles on Monday, the Red Sox set a new franchise record with their 106th win. That broke the tie they had with the 1912 team, which went 105-47 en route to a World Series championship.
Scoreboards flashed "106 Wins." Fans waved signs to celebrate breaking a record that has stood as long as Fenway Park itself.
"You think about all the history of the game and the history of this franchise," Boston manager Alex Cora said after the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 on Monday night to earn their record 106th victory and clinch home-field advantage through the postseason.
"To be part of this, I can't even explain it. We should call timeout and enjoy this one," said Cora, who is in his first year as manager. "We know what we want to do in October, but this one ... for us to do it is amazing."
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Mookie Betts had a pair of hits to leave his major league-best batting average at .343, and Nathan Eovaldi struck out 10 hapless batters to assure the Red Sox of the best record in the major leagues this season and home-field advantage through the World Series, if they make it that far.
While the record season and three straight AL East titles are nice, Boston's sights are on something greater: a World Series championship. For now, they know they will open the Division Series at Fenway Park on Oct. 5 against the winner of the AL wild-card game between the New York Yankees and (most likely) Oakland.
"We haven’t won what we want to win yet," Betts said after the team clinched the division in New York.
Still, for a franchise that is 117 years old, it's a great accomplishment to attain a team record for the most wins in a single season.
The Orioles (45-111), meanwhile, became the sixth AL team and the first since the 2003 Tigers to lose 111 games, falling 60½ games behind Boston (106-51) in the division. It's the first time since 1939 that teams separated by 60 wins in the standings have played each other.
Contributing: The Associated Press.
