Rays Clinch AL East in the Bronx as Yankees Turn Focus to Wild Card
The short version
- Rays clinched their first AL East title since 2021, winning at Yankee Stadium.
- Yankees (90-67) will face the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series; Rays get a first-round bye.
- Aaron Judge will miss at least the wild-card series with a moderate calf strain.
- Yankees lead MLB with a 3.20 team ERA and a 3.24 rotation ERA.
Tampa Bay sealed its first division title since 2021 at Yankee Stadium, while New York now prepares for a wild-card matchup with Boston that Aaron Judge will miss.
The Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up the American League East on Tuesday with a day-night doubleheader split at Yankee Stadium, celebrating their first division crown since 2021 in the visitors' clubhouse. The clinch came after the Yankees spent close to 13 hours at the ballpark and came within reach of being no-hit in the nightcap.
Tampa Bay (96-61) earns a first-round bye, while New York (90-67), which already locked up a playoff spot, heads to a wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox. Manager Aaron Boone confirmed that Aaron Judge will sit out at least that series because of a moderate calf strain. Judge received a platelet-poor plasma injection Monday and is expected to have limited activity before doctors learn more within a week about a possible return for a division series against the Rays.
Even without their star, the Yankees left Tuesday feeling confident in their pitching. Carlos Rodon threw eight scoreless, three-hit innings without a walk in a 2-0 win in the opener, and Max Fried carried a strong outing into the seventh inning of game two before Tampa Bay's small ball beat him. New York owns a major-league-best 3.20 team ERA, with its rotation leading at 3.24, and the staff is so deep that Rodon (1.89 ERA over his last seven starts) may not even start in the wild-card round and could instead pitch out of the bullpen.
Boone told reporters the team's expectations remain unchanged. "With or without him, we're expecting to go into the series and know we can beat anyone when we play our game," he said. Outfielder Cody Bellinger, who homered in the opener alongside Ben Rice's double, added that the roster's depth has carried the club through Judge's three-month absence caused by a fractured rib, a stretch in which New York went 45-39.