The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 on Monday night for their 106th win of the season, a new high in the franchise’s 118-year history.
The new mark moved Boston past the 105 games the 1912 team won en route to winning the World Series, though that was in a 154-game schedule. The Sox’s win Monday came in their 157th game of the year.
The victory also assured the Red Sox of home-field advantage throughout the postseason, as it put Boston out of reach of the AL West-leading Houston Astros.
Historically, securing the best record in baseball bodes well for the Sox, who won the World Series in five of the six years when they owned at least a share of the top record (1903, 1912, 1915, 2007 and 2013). They lost the Fall Classic in 1946 in seven games.
The team with the best record has reached the World Series in both of the past two years: The Cubs won it all in 2016, and the Dodgers lost in Game 7 last year.
The Sox could set one more record in the regular season for manager Alex Cora. Boston is only three wins from tying the 1961 Yankees for the most wins by a rookie skipper’s team.