Yankees clinch AL East as Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton dominate Orioles

The New York Yankees officially secured the top spot in the American League East division with Thursday's dominant 10-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Entering the final three game series against the Orioles, the Yankees only needed to win one of their final six games to clinch the division.

After dropping the first two games of the series, the Yankees looked to ace Gerrit Cole to get the job done.

Cole did more than that. The reigning Cy Young award winner was truly dominant on Thursday night, tossing 6.2 innings pitched, allowing two hits, no runs and one walk while striking out five batters.

Cole leaned heavily on his fastball, throwing it 51-of-101 pitches.

Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton appears to be in playoff form. He hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to get the Yankees on the board.

He followed it up by opening the floodgates with a bases-clearing double to center field with a rocket that came off his bat at 116 mph.

Aaron Judge also got in on the party, launching his 58th home run of the season and extending his streak to five consecutive games.

The Yankees are still focused on securing the top seed in the American League, and they'll need to win two of their last three games to do so.