The Yankees star has a message for the playoff field: We are the team to beat

New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton attended the champagne celebration of the AL East victory and expressed great confidence in finishing the season with a World Series.

When asked by NJ Advance Media's Randy Miller if the Yankees were the “team to beat in the playoffs,” Stanton had a short but succinct answer.

“We better be. That’s the point,” he said Thursday night in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE YANKEES NEWSLETTER:

Restore the glory

Led by Stanton's 2 for 4 night, which included a home run and four RBIs, the Yankees finished top of the AL East with a 10-1 win over the division's No. 2 seed, the Baltimore Orioles. New York also extended its overall AL lead to one game over the Cleveland Guardians with a 93-66 record, which would give it a first-round bye and home-field advantage at least until the World Series.

It's the kind of season the Yankees and their fans have come to expect – although expectations are much higher after they finished 82-80 and missed the playoffs last season.

“This team was hungry,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. “That’s because we didn’t make the playoffs last year. That was just enough fuel for this team to say, 'Hey, we need to make some changes.' We need to do better.'”

The Yankees end their regular season with three games at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates.