Enjoying the champagne celebration of the AL East victory, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton expressed utmost confidence in ending the season with a World Series.

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

‘We better be. That’s the point,” he said Thursday evening in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse.

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RESTORING THE GLORY

Led by Stanton’s 2 for 4 nights, with a home run and four RBIs, the Yankees closed out the AL East with a 10–1 victory against the Baltimore Orioles, the No. 2 team in the division. New York, with a 93-66 record, also increased its overall AL lead to one game over the Cleveland Guardians, which would give it a first-round bye and home field advantage until at least the World Series.

It’s the kind of season the Yankees and their fans have come to expect, though the aspirations are much higher after finishing 82-80 last season and missing the playoffs.

“This team was hungry,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. “It goes back to not making the play-offs last year. That was just enough fuel for this team to go out and say, ‘Hey, we gotta make some changes. We have to do better. ”

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