NEW YORK -- Starlin Castro was at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday night when Baltimore finished a 4-0 win at Toronto, eliminating the Yankees from postseason contention.
Knowing New York had failed to reach the playoffs for the third time in four years, the mind of Yankees manager Joe Girardi immediately shifted attention to 2017. He removed CC Sabathia after one more batter and pinch ran for Brett Gardner in the eighth when Girardi didn't like the way the speedy outfielder was running.
"It's kind of how I'm wired, and you start thinking about, OK, what do we need to do?" Girardi said.
Sabathia (9-12) allowed one run and four hits over a season-high 7 1/3 innings for his first win in a month and finished with a 3.91 ERA, his lowest since 2012. Playing his final game at Yankee Stadium, Boston's David Ortiz was honored in a pregame ceremony, struck out, walked and ended the series 0 for 10 with four strikeouts.
But the Yankees' thoughts were on another subpar season. They have not won a postseason game since Derek Jeter broke an ankle in the 2012 AL Championship Series opener.
After a 9-17 start, the Yankees did not get back above .500 until June 10. They were 53-53 when they brought up rookie catcher Gary Sanchez on Aug. 3 following the trades of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova.
Most Yankees fans looked to the future.
"Everybody gave up on us," shortstop Didi Gregorius said. "I think we scared everybody, actually, to be honest, because nobody expected us to be all the way here."
Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin were promoted 10 days later on the morning Alex Rodriguez was released, and they homered back to back in their first big league at-bats. The Baby Bombers began to climb the standings, pulling within one game of a wild-card spot on Sept. 10.
But even with Sanchez hitting 20 home runs in his first 51 big league games, they faded from contention with a 3-11 skid that included a four-game sweep at Fenway Park.
New York (83-76) trails Baltimore and Toronto by four games for the AL's wild cards with three games to play. A final three-game series against the Orioles won't have much significance for the Yankees.
"It's pretty quiet in there, probably the quietest I've ever seen after a win," Girardi said. "There were some good things that happened, but in the end we fell short and we didn't have a successful season."
Sabathia, who struggled to reinvent himself at age 36, left to a loud ovation, ending a six-start winless streak and improving to 2-2 despite a 2.37 ERA in his final eight starts. He compensated for a drop in fastball velocity by developing a cutter this season and pitched with better location using a brace on his surgically repaired right knee.
"That cutter is a game-changer for him," catcher Brian McCann said. "When you're changing identities and who you've always been as a pitcher and to have the success he had was great."
Coming back from a 2015 season that ended with a trip to an alcohol rehabilitation center, Sabathia made 30 starts and stayed healthy except for a short disabled list stint caused by a groin strain. His $25 million option for 2017 becomes guaranteed if he is not on the DL Sunday because of a left shoulder injury.
"The way I was able to pitch and use all my pitches and make this new style work for me is definitely encouraging," Sabathia said. "We used it a lot, had some weak contact, a lot of double plays."
Playing against his former team, Jacoby Ellsbury hit an RBI double in the fifth off Henry Owens (0-2) for a 2-1 lead. The Yankees padded the margin in the sixth on a blustery night when Robby Scott walked Austin with the bases loaded, then threw a wild pitch that scored Chase Headley. Aaron Hicks added an RBI double in the eighth.
Xander Bogaerts hit his 21st homer for Boston (92-67), which is competing with Cleveland (91-67) and Texas (94-65) for the AL's best record and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. A day after clinching the AL East, the Red Sox rested second baseman Dustin Pedroia, first baseman Hanley Ramirez, right fielder Mookie Betts, catcher Sandy Leon and third baseman Brock Holt from their starting lineup.
New York hopes its young players can spark a rebound similar to Boston's.
"Coming into spring training next year, we're expecting to win. We're not expecting to rebuild," McCann said. "These guys are going to play big roles and they're ready for it."
A-ROD WATCH
Alex Rodriguez is expected to start work as a Yankees instructor at the team's minor league complex, where Orlando Hernandez arrived Thursday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (forearm) threw a bullpen session and said he could start Saturday against Baltimore. Manager Joe Girardi said he had not made a decision. ... 1B Greg Bird (right labrum surgery) had an RBI double and struck out twice in four at-bats against Philadelphia prospects in his first Instructional League game in Tampa, Florida. He went 0 for 2 in an intrasquad game Monday. ... RHP James Kaprielian, selected in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft, is scheduled to pitch in the instructional league against Toronto on Friday, his first outing since he went on Class A Tampa's DL in late April with an elbow flexor strain.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Michael Pineda (6-11) is to start Friday against Baltimore. Rain is possible.




Final
Series: Game 3 of 3

Red Sox 1

(92-67, 46-35 away)

Yankees 5

(83-76, 47-31 home)




7:05PM,EDT,September 29,2016
Yankee Stadium, New York, New York 

123456789 R H E
BOS 000100000 1 4 0
NYY 10001201 - 5 8 0
W: C. Sabathia (9-12)
L: H. Owens (0-2)







View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Boston - Top of 1stSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Hill struck out swinging.00
Benintendi struck out swinging.00
Bogaerts struck out looking.00
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 1stSCORE
Henry Owens pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Gardner grounded out to shortstop.00
Ellsbury walked.00
Sánchez struck out swinging, Ellsbury stole second.00
Castro doubled to deep left, Ellsbury scored.01
Gregorius flied out to left.01
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 2ndSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Ortiz struck out swinging.01
Young singled to right.01
Bradley Jr. grounded into fielder's choice to second, Young out at second.01
Hanigan grounded out to second.01
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
Henry Owens pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Headley grounded out to shortstop.01
McCann struck out looking.01
Hicks struck out swinging.01
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 3rdSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Shaw grounded out to second.01
Marrero struck out swinging.01
Hill lined out to third.01
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
Henry Owens pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Austin singled to left.01
Gardner lined out to center.01
Austin to second on wild pitch by Owens.01
Ellsbury grounded out to second, Austin to third.01
Sánchez struck out swinging.01
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 4thSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Benintendi grounded out to second.01
Bogaerts homered to left (397 feet).11
Ortiz walked.11
Holt ran for Ortiz.11
Young grounded into double play, third to second to first, Holt out at second.11
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 4thSCORE
Henry Owens pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Castro lined out to right.11
Gregorius fouled out to third.11
Headley walked.11
Headley stole second.11
McCann struck out swinging.11
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 5thSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Bradley Jr. grounded out to shortstop.11
Hanigan singled to center.11
Shaw grounded into double play, first to shortstop, Hanigan out at second.11
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 5thSCORE
Henry Owens pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Hicks reached on bunt single to pitcher.11
Austin struck out swinging.11
Gardner popped out to shortstop.11
Ellsbury doubled to center, Hicks scored.12
Hembree relieved Owens.12
Sánchez popped out to second.12
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 6thSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Marrero grounded out to second.12
Hill walked.12
Benintendi struck out swinging.12
Bogaerts struck out swinging.12
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 6thSCORE
Heath Hembree pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Castro singled to right center.12
Gregorius flied out to right.12
Headley walked, Castro to second.12
Scott relieved Hembree.12
McCann singled to center, Castro to third, Headley to second.12
Hicks flied out to right.12
Austin walked, Castro scored, Headley to third, McCann to second.13
Headley scored, McCann to third, Austin to second on wild pitch by Scott.14
Gardner flied out to left.14
2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 7thSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Holt struck out swinging.14
Young lined out to right.14
Bradley Jr. singled to left.14
Hanigan grounded into fielder's choice to third, Bradley Jr. out at second.14
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 7thSCORE
Junichi Tazawa pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Tazawa relieved Scott.14
Ellsbury singled to left.14
Sánchez struck out swinging.14
Castro popped out to shortstop.14
Gregorius grounded out to second.14
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 8thSCORE
CC Sabathia pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Torreyes at second base.14
Shaw grounded out to first.14
Clippard relieved Sabathia.14
Hernández hit for Marrero.14
Hernández struck out swinging.14
Hill flied out to left.14
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Robbie Ross Jr. pitching for BostonBOSNYY
Hernández at second base.14
Ross Jr. relieved Tazawa.14
Headley grounded out to third.14
McCann walked.14
Hicks doubled to deep center, McCann scored.15
Austin struck out swinging.15
Hicks to third on wild pitch by Ross Jr..15
Gardner walked.15
Williams ran for Gardner.15
Ellsbury walked, Williams to second.15
N. Ramirez relieved Ross Jr..15
Sánchez struck out swinging.15
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Boston - Top of 9thSCORE
Richard Bleier pitching for New YorkBOSNYY
Williams in left field.15
Bleier relieved Clippard.15
Benintendi flied out to left.15
Bogaerts flied out to left.15
Holt struck out swinging.15
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors





 Boston Red Sox

HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Hill 3B30001114.223.293.298
Benintendi LF40000218.296.358.480
Bogaerts SS41110216.294.355.445
Ortiz DH10001110.315.402.620
Holt PR-DH
2000029.262.328.394
Young RF30100012.271.350.497
Bradley Jr. CF30100012.272.354.495
Hanigan C30100010.171.230.238
Shaw 1B30000011.242.306.422
Marrero 2B2000018.083.214.083
a-Hernández PH-2B
1000014.300.364.380
Totals29141210124   
a-struck out swinging for D Marrero in the 8th
BATTING
HR: Bogaerts (21, 4th inning off Sabathia 0 on, 1 Out)
RBI: Bogaerts (89)
GIDP: Young, Shaw
Team LOB: 3

Game Information

StadiumYankee Stadium, New York, NY
Attendance41,597 (83.8% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time3:17
Weather62 degrees, cloudy
Wind8 mph
UmpiresHome Plate - Alan Porter, First Base - Brian O'Nora, Second Base - Jeff Kellogg, Third Base - John Tumpane