The host New York Yankees won the AL East title for a first-round bye in the playoffs, dispatching the Baltimore Orioles with a 10-1 victory Thursday night behind Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gerrit Cole.

When Cedric Mullins hit a game-ending groundout to shortstop Anthony Volpe, the Yankees came out of the dugout and formed a brief huddle between the mound and second base.

New York improved to 93-66 and will open its 59th postseason at home Oct. 5 in a best-of-five Division Series against a winner of next week’s wild-card round.

Judge hit his major league-leading 58th homer — going deep for the fifth straight game and increasing his RBIs total to 144 — Stanton hit his 27th homer and had four RBIs, and Cole pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-hit ball.

ROYALS 7, NATIONALS 4 >> Visiting Kansas City completed a series sweep with a victory over Washington.

Pinch hitter Adam Frazier’s one-out, line drive base hit to left field in the top of the ninth drove in two runs, breaking a 4-4 tie and guiding the Royals to their third straight win.

Kansas City (85-74) remained tied with Detroit for the second and third AL wild-card spots with three games to play.

TIGERS 4, RAYS 3 >> Justyn-Henry Malloy’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly helped host Detroit rally from a 3-0 deficit to move closer to the postseason with a win over Tampa Bay.

The Tigers, who have won five straight, entered the game tied with Kansas City for the second and third American League wild-card spots, two games ahead of the Minnesota Twins, who were tied with the Florida Marlins in extra innings when this edition went to press.

WHITE SOX 7, ANGELS 0 >> Host Chicago averted a record-breaking loss for the third straight day, beating Los Angeles behind Chris Flexen’s sharp pitching performance.

The White Sox improved to 39-120. They have been tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the modern major league record for losses since Sunday’s 4-2 setback at San Diego.

The White Sox have three games left this weekend at Detroit.

Flexen (3-15) struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings.

Los Angeles dropped to 63-96 to set a franchise record for losses in a season.

OHTANI’S NO. 50 GOES TO COURT >> A Florida man is seeking a temporary injunction to stop Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from going to auction, saying it was stolen from him moments after he secured it.

An emergency hearing was scheduled for Thursday in Miami Dade County regarding a lawsuit filed on behalf of Max Matus, who his representatives say caught the Los Angeles Dodgers star’s historic 50th home run ball. The ball is set to be auctioned online on Friday.

Ohtani’s home run on Sept. 19 against the Miami Marlins gave him 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season, making him the first member of the 50-50 club.

According to a statement from Matus’ representatives, the 18-year-old secured the ball before Chris Belanski, also from Florida, took it away, then held it up. Kelvin Ramirez also is named in the lawsuit after claiming ownership of the ball. Ramirez attended the game with Belanski.