YANKEES 1, RAYS 0 Judge, Yanks clinch playoffs
Aaron Judge drove home the winning run with a one-out single in the ninth
Aaron Judge drove home the winning run with a one-out single in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees clinched a playoff berth in their final at-bat of the regular season by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 Sunday.
Yankees shortstop Gio Urshela made a Jeter-esque catch, charging recklessly into the visiting dugout, and New York finished the year 92-70, punching a fifth consecutive postseason ticket after nearly falling into a labyrinth of tiebreaker scenarios.
The Yankees had their bags packed, knowing a loss to the 100-win Rays could send them into one of several potential Game 163s on the road Monday. Instead, they’ll play in Tuesday night’s AL wild-card game at Fenway Park after the rival Boston Red Sox rallied to beat Washington later Sunday.
Rougned Odor led off the ninth with a single against Josh Fleming (10-8), just New York’s second hit. Pinch-runner Tyler Wade advanced to second on Gleyber Torres’ flyout to the warning track in center, and Anthony Rizzo moved Wade to third with a one-out single.
Andrew Kittredge came on to face Judge, who ripped a 104.4 mph line drive off the right-hander’s glove. The ball skipped toward drawn-in second baseman Brandon Lowe, whose offbalance throw home wasn’t nearly in time to catch a sliding Wade.
Teammates swarmed a smiling Judge midway between first and second, and fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” at the face of the franchise during an on-field interview.
“I wouldn’t say we exhaled,” Judge said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
With the out-of-town scoreboard showing the Blue Jays routing Baltimore from the start, it was clear by the fourth inning that New York wouldn’t back into a wild-card spot.
Rays starter Michael Wacha wasn’t getting out of the way, either. The veteran pitched one-hit ball over five innings, steamrolling the Yankees with 56 pitches. He induced two double plays, pushing New York’s Almost total to 154.
Chapman (6-4) struck out two and stranded a runner to keep it 0-0.
This was the fifth time the Yankees entered the final day of the regular season still in contention for a postseason spot and first since 1995.