New York Yankees clinch 34th straight winning season but have much bigger goals

NEW YORK (AP) — For the New York Yankees, clinching their 34th consecutive winning season was a milepost rather than a milestone.

“We're the Yankees, and we're going to win,” captain Aaron Judge said after New York beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Tuesday night for its 82nd victory. “So that’s a great streak, but I think everybody in this room is worried about a championship.”

New York’s streak is the second-longest in the four major U.S. professional sports leagues behind the Yankees’ record 39 winning seasons in a row from 1926-64. The team's last losing record was 76-86 in 1992.

“It’s a good look at what this organization has been now for decades," manager Aaron Boone said. “I’m happy we got there again but, yeah, obviously we’ve got bigger things we’re chasing.”

New York hasn't won the World Series since its 27th title in 2009. Boone thought back to 2023, when the Yankees didn't get their 82nd win until the next-to-last day of the season and at 82-80 finished seven games back of the final AL wild card.

“It's not as easy I think as sometimes people think. In '23, it was a fight to get to that point,” he said.

New York (82-62) matched its season high of 20 games over .500 and is four games behind AL East-leading Tampa Bay with 18 remaining. The Yankees opened a three-game lead over Boston (80-65) for the top American League wild card and hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series.

Judge returned from a broken rib that had sidelined him since May 31 and went 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout while playing six innings in right field.

“It’s one step towards winning the World Series and you've got to win a lot of games,” he said. “So getting another winning season is great. But I think the boys in here are excited for what’s ahead of them.”

The second-longest current streak in Major League Baseball is 16 straight winning seasons by the Los Angeles Dodgers, a run that started in 2011.

Among other sports, the highs are 32 by the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens (1952-83), 22 by the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs (1998-2019) and 20 by the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys (1966-85).

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