Judge’s 52nd HR propels Yankees
New York gets wild card; Rockies also in after Brewers’ loss.
In a way, manager Joe Girardi figures, Aaron Judge and some of the young New York Yankees without any postseason experience have already gotten the feel of playoff pressure.
The Yankees wound up with an AL wild-card spot Saturday, beating Toronto 2-1 on Judge’s 52nd home run shortly before Boston clinched the AL East crown.
New York needed two wins and two losses by Boston to force a tiebreaker Monday at Yankee Stadium. Instead, the Yankees will host Minnesota in the wild-card game Tuesday.
“I started thinking about that the last couple of days, where in a sense they’re elimination games for us,” Girardi said.
The wild-card winner will face Cleveland in the bestof-five AL Division Series. Boston, which beat Houston about 20 minutes after the Yankees won, is set to take on the Astros in the playoffs.
Starter CC Sabathia (14-5) won his fifth straight decision. The veteran left-hander allowed four hits and struck out six over 5⅔ shutout innings.
Red Sox clinch East: David Price relieved Drew Pomeranz and squelched a seventh-inning rally in a 6-3 win over the Astros on Saturday, clinching the first back-to-back AL East titles in franchise history. The division title sets up an immediate rematch with the Astros in the playoffs.
Rockies in wild card: Colorado clinched its first postseason berth since 2009 and will face Arizona in the NL wild-card game Wednesday. The Rockies sewed up the second NL wild-card spot after the Brewers fell 7-6 to St. Louis on Saturday.
Indians: Outfielder Michael Brantley was activated from the disabled list, and manager Terry Francona is considering placing him on Cleveland’s roster for the AL Division Series. Brantley had been sidelined since Aug. 9 with a sprained right ankle.