A day that might have been threatened by a hangover instead witne sed a potential takeover. Fresh off a champagne-spraying, playoff-clinching celebration, the Yankees showered, freshened up and charged up the division behind their captain and their ace. Acce s the Yankees beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees. Aaron Judges 50th and 51st home runs of the year and one last regular-season gem from Max Fried keyed an 8-1 destruction of the White Sox in The Bronx on Wednesday. Combined with the Red Sox winning in Toronto, the Yankees and Blue Jays are all tied up atop the AL East with four games to play. Toronto holds the tiebreaker over the Yankees (90-68), so the Yankees are e sentially a game behind with one more to go against Chicago before three against the Orioles. The Blue Kristaps Porzingis Jersey Jays will finish up their series with the Red Sox and then host the Rays. Nonethele s, the Yankees, who insisted Tuesday they were not content with just any playoff slot and backed that insistence by spraying much more champagne than they drank in the victorious clubhouse suddenly own a share of first place for the first time since July 2. Aaron Judge reacts as he scores on his three-run homer on Wednesday night. JASON SZENES/ NY POST All acro s Major League Baseball, its been a crazy 10 days, two weeks, manager Aaron Boone said of a collapse-heavy majors that includes the Blue Jays, who led the division by five games two Tuesdays ago. I think we all expected it to be that way. For us, its about handling our busine s. Explore More Boones bunch was amid a six-game skid nearly three months ago when it was overtaken during the same June and July swoon that seems to strike every season. But a deadline-strengthened club has come alive and won seven of eight, 10 of 13 and 21 of 29, reaching a season-best 22 games above .500, while the Blue Jays have perfected their Mets imitation. Max Fried of the New York Yankees throws a pitch in the second inning against the White Sox. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post The Yankees have awakened behind quality starting pitching, and Fried (seven innings, one run on four hits and two walks) put his finishing touches on a first season in pinstripes that will earn him AL Cy Young Award votes. They have awakened behind a deep and powerful lineup that flexed in the third inning. A sizzling Ben Rice tripled and scored on a Paul Goldschmidt single. After Jazz Chisholm Jr.s double, the Yankees had a four-run cushion. And they have awakened because they house the best offensive player in the sport in their order. New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried throws out Chicago White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa in the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. JASON SZENES/ NY POST CHECK OUT THE AND Down a run in the bottom of the second, the Yankees put two runners on base and watched Judge do the rest in a swing both historic and helpful. On a first-pitch sinker from Jonathan Cannon, Judge cranked the go-ahead, three-run shot into the home bullpen to become the fourth player in major league history with four 50-homer campaigns. His company: Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. No player has five. New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hits an RBI single. JASON SZENES/ NY POST New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham hits a two-run homer in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. JASON SZENES/ NY POST Sept. 24 was not the day for Judge to contemplate what joining that club means to him. If you sit back and admire it, youre going to stop your momentum, said Judge, who went on to record his 46th career multihomer game to tie Mickey Mantle for the second most in Yankees history. A lot of work that needs to be done. Hopefully I have a long career here, we do some special things and we can talk about it at the end. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! If he was hung up on No. 50, it only lasted until the eighth inning. Judge delivered the second end of back-to-back homers with Trent Grisham, 37,751 fans raining down MVP chants that arrived sporadically through the end of the game. Judge blasted 52 homers in 2017; 62 in 22; and 58 in 24. He has four more regular-season games to pad his total and pad a case for a third MVP in five seasons. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge rounds the bases on his home run in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, September 24, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge celebrates with New York Yankees Oswaldo Cabrera after the final out of the 9th inning at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, September 24, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST There was not a more drenched player in the clubhouse Tuesday. There seems never to be a more clear-eyed player at the plate. There were no signs of a letdown from the Yankees one day after they let their hair down. Walking around the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, Judge noticed a team that was contemplating its next celebration rather than its last one. Everybody had a focused, determined look in their eye, Judge said of a team that now sees eye-to-eye with the Blue Jays. Theres still a greater goal ahead of us. Ed Davis Jersey