BOSTON — The New York Yankees are going to the playoffs, and they will probably go there as American League East champions.

They just won’t be clinching the division in Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox made sure of that on Saturday night with a seven-run eighth inning.

“They’ll get their chance to celebrate somewhere else,” Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon said. “And that’s fine.”

Manny Ramirez doubled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth, and the Red Sox beat New York 12-5 to cut the Yankees’ lead in the East to 4 1/2 games. Jason Varitek and Doug Mirabelli each doubled in a pair of runs as Boston sent 11 men to the plate in the inning.

New York’s magic number is four, so victories on Saturday and today would have won the division. Instead, Boston clinched the season series (10-8) against the Yankees for the first time since 1999.

“That doesn’t matter once you get to the postseason,” Damon said, telling reporters jokingly: “Maybe you guys can rub it in their face and make them think about it.”

The Red Sox lead the wild-card race by six games over Anaheim and Texas. They had hoped to sweep New York, but the Yankees won the opener Friday when they rallied against tiring Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez after manager Terry Francona left him in for the eighth inning.

Francona wasn’t around to see the pivotal eighth on Saturday. He was ejected in the sixth for arguing a fan interference call.