Yanks, Red Sox claim wild cards in dramatic fashion
NEW YORK: Aaron Judge singled with one out in the ninth inning to drive in the winning run, and the New York Yankees clinched a play-off spot with a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball on Sunday.
The Yankees will face the Boston Red Sox on the road at Fenway Park today in a one-game wild-card match-up after Boston’s 7-5 comeback victory against the Washington Nationals.
Boston will host the game after winning the regular-season series with the Yankees 10-9.
Rougned Odor opened the ninth by flaring a single off Josh Fleming (10-8) into centre field.
Pinch runner Tyler Wade tagged up on a warning track flyball by Gleyber Torres.
Wade was held up at third when Anthony Rizzo lined a single into right field past shifting second baseman Brandon Lowe and Fleming was replaced by Andrew Kittredge.
Judge won it when he lined a single that was deflected by Kittredge to Lowe.
Lowe made a diving stop and Wade beat the throw home with a headfirst slide.
At Washington, Rafael Devers’ second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the ninth inning, lifted Boston to a 7-5 win over the Nationals and the top wild-card play-off spot in the American League.
The Red Sox rallied from a 5-1 deficit to finish the series sweep.
Kyle Schwarber reached on an error to open the ninth for the Red Sox on Sunday.
Xander Bogaerts struck out, but Devers connected with a 2-1 pitch from Kyle Finnegan (5-9) for his 38th home run of the season, a shot to centre.
Ryan Zimmerman, who has not yet said if he will return next season, was 0-for-3 with an RBI walk for Washington before being removed to an ovation in the eighth inning, and catcher Alex Avila had a two-run double in his final major league game.