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NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees clinched an AL wild-card spot Thursday night, ending a two-year absence from the postseason by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

Carlos Beltran and rookies Greg Bird and Rob Refsnyder all homered for the Yankees in the franchise's 10,000th regular-season win.

CC Sabathia (6-10) won for the second time since the All-Star break.

Putting behind the venerated generation of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees open the playoffs with a winner-take-all game on Tuesday, most likely against Houston or the Los Angeles Angels.

New York had failed to reach the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since its 1982-93 drought, just before the start of a golden age that included five World Series titles and seven AL pennants from 1996-2009.

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