TORONTO — Mark Teixeira hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and Aaron Hicks added a game-winning blast as the New York Yankees avoided a four-game sweep, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 on Monday night.

With Toronto leading 3-2 heading to the ninth, Manager John Gibbons called on Jason Grilli (7-6) to close it out because Roberto Osuna was unavailable after pitching the previous two days.

New York pitcher Luis Severino drops his glove as he approaches Toronto's Justin Smoak after hitting him with a pitch and setting off a melee during Monday's game at Toronto. Associated Press/Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press

Red Sox barreling into the playoffs

The Boston Red Sox are streaking into the playoffs. They’ve won 11 straight games and are making a mockery of the American League East race, clinching a playoff spot on Saturday night.

The next goal in sight for the Sox is the AL East title. They could clinch it as early as Tuesday night. That’s an important step for a team hoping to play deep into October. Winning the division means you get to avoid the one-game wild-card elimination game that kicks off the playoffs. Win the East and you can map out your plans for a best-of-five American League Division Series, which starts Oct. 6.

Since Major League Baseball added a second wild-card team in 2012, three of the four AL teams that won the wild-card game went on to lose in the division series. That would stand to reason since a wild-card team would undoubtedly use its top pitcher in that game, making him unavailable for the first two games of the ALDS.

This week, the Red Sox also will battle with Texas and Cleveland for the best record in the American League – and home-field advantage throughout the World Series.

Not that they need it. The Sox have won 11 of 12 games on the road, and have the best road record in baseball since the All-Star break at 27-14. That’s a remarkable .650 winning percentage. Boston is 7-0 on its current 10-game trip.

This team has come together on the road. The Sox faced a daunting schedule in the final two months of the season. This week they’ll wrap up a stretch of 29 of 42 games away from home.

The Red Sox have steadfastly refused to talk about the playoffs. Even after clinching their spot – a remarkable achievement, considering they had finished in last place the past two years – the Sox refused to even raise a glass for a toast. They have their sights set firmly on the bigger prizes ahead.

They’ve got a real chance to accomplish their goals. For the past three weeks this team has been as good as any in baseball. The Sox have the lowest bullpen ERA of any team in MLB, their starters have the lowest ERA in the AL since July 9, and the offense has scored the most runs in baseball.

And they are developing the swagger a team needs to succeed in October. During their winning streak they have rallied to win five games when trailing after five innings. They are a confident group. They believe in themselves, believe they can rally from a deficit at any time.

New England believes in them, too. This team has won over the region after two disappointing seasons.

Baseball is back in Boston – and it may be back for a while.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

Teixeira tied it 3-all with a one-out drive into the second deck in right. After flipping his bat, Teixeira yelled “Blown save!” at Grilli after returning to the dugout.

Didi Gregorius singled and Hicks followed with a two-run homer.

New York scored five runs in a bat-around ninth, matching their total from the 35 previous innings in the series.

INDIANS 7, TIGERS 4: Cleveland clinched the AL Central title, overcoming an injury to ace right-hander Corey Kluber in a victory at Detroit.

Kluber left after four innings with right groin tightness, joining Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar in a group of talented Cleveland pitchers dealing with injuries. But even those concerns were secondary when the Indians poured onto the field to celebrate their first division title since 2007.

Buck Farmer (0-1) allowed four runs in five innings for the Tigers, who fell two games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card.

WHITE SOX 7, RAYS 1: James Shields (6-18) pitched six effective innings for his first win in two months and Justin Morneau and Carlos Sanchez each hit a two-run homer in a win at Chicago.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MARLINS 7, METS 3: Dee Gordon homered leading off the first inning for Miami, which totaled 14 hits and mixed cheers with the tears of the past two days in its first game since Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident early Sunday morning.

Adam Conley pitched three scoreless innings subbing for Fernandez, who had been scheduled to make his final start of the year.

CUBS 12, PIRATES 2: Javier Baez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs and major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks pitched six scoreless innings as visiting Chicago won its 100th game.

REDS 15, CARDINALS 2: Joey Votto and Adam Duvall hit two of the Cincinnati’s four homers as the Reds won a rout at St. Louis.

Steve Selsky went 5 for 5 including a homer, four RBI and scored three runs. He’s the first Reds rookie to have five hits in a game since Wade Rowdon against the Mets on July 9, 1986.

DIAMONDBACKS 14, NATIONALS 4: Jean Segura had two homers and Yasmany Tomas hit a three-run shot and drove in two more runs with a double. Mitch Haniger and Jake Lamb also homered for Arizona as Washington pitchers gave up a season-high five home runs.

INTERLEAGUE

BREWERS 8, RANGERS 3: Jonathan Villar had two home runs and a career-high five RBI and Matt Garza beat his former team as Milwaukee won at Arlington, Texas.

The loss dropped American League West-champion Texas one-half game behind the Boston Red Sox in the race for the league’s best record. The Cleveland Indians pulled within one-half game of the Rangers.

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