NEW YORK — The Yankees did everything right on Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Ben Rice smashed two home runs. The bullpen fired four shutout innings. Their winning streak stretched to eight with a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Yet the celebration never arrived.
As 45,004 fans watched the out-of-town scoreboard with growing tension, the Toronto Blue Jays pummeled the Tampa Bay Rays 13-4. That result sealed the American League East for Toronto. New York’s surge in September came up one game short. Both clubs finished 94-68, but the Blue Jays owned the tiebreaker after winning the season series 8-5.
The Yankees’ consolation prize is the wild card. They will face the Boston Red Sox in a best-of-three set starting Tuesday night in the Bronx. Toronto, meanwhile, moves directly to the Division Series with a bye.
Rice provides Yankees offensive spark in finale
Rice wasted no time giving Yankee Stadium life. In the bottom of the first, he turned on Kyle Bradish’s 96-mph fastball and launched it 421 feet into Monument Park. The shot marked his 25th homer of the season and put New York ahead 1-0.
For a moment, hope built when Tampa Bay led Toronto 1-0. That faded in a hurry.
Alejandro Kirk, who has long hurt the Yankees, crushed a grand slam in Toronto’s first inning. That blast gave the Blue Jays a 5-1 lead. Kirk later added a two-run homer to put the game away.
Rice wasn’t finished. In the eighth, he drilled his 26th homer, a 401-foot opposite-field drive into the Orioles bullpen. The solo shot pushed New York back in front for good. It capped a strong finale for the rookie first baseman.
“It was a good way to close out the year with all those wins,” Rice said. “Fell short of the goal to win the division, but now we’re on to the postseason. I feel like our team is in a good spot. We feel good about ourselves.”
Gil turns in solid outing before bullpen takes over
Luis Gil got the start and made his case for a postseason role. The right-hander lasted five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks while throwing 79 pitches.
Both runs came in the fourth inning. Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson connected for back-to-back homers to push Baltimore ahead 2-1. The Yankees answered in the bottom half. Giancarlo Stanton lined a single to drive in Aaron Judge, tying the game at 2-2.
From there, the bullpen dominated. Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams and David Bednar combined to blank the Orioles over the last four innings. They surrendered only two hits and two walks.
That finish capped a stretch where the Yankees’ bullpen carried a 0.53 ERA across the last 11 games, a timely boost heading into October.
Tiebreaker rules dash division hopes
The Yankees entered Sunday needing two things to repeat as division champions. They had control over only one.
Beating Baltimore was the part they managed. The other depended on Tampa Bay, who had little to play for and couldn’t slow Toronto’s bats.
“The games in March, April are just as important as Game 162,” Judge said. “Nothing we can do about it now besides turn the page and get locked in on October.”
New York’s undoing lay in the head-to-head column. Toronto owned the season series 8-5, the deciding factor in the standings.
The Yankees’ summer collapse made it possible. They led the division by seven games on May 28. Then came a 20-31 stretch that dropped them to 62-56 by Aug. 10. Toronto used that window to climb and never let go.
Historic turnaround sets up Red Sox showdown
Despite the sting, the Yankees’ final push was historic. Their 34-14 record over the last 48 games was the best in the majors. The eight-game win streak tied their season high.
“A month and a half ago, we were teetering, when it wasn’t going great, even being out of the picture a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “To right the ship and then really solidify our position and then have a real shot at the East here all the way to the last day is hopefully something that serves us well, has kept us sharp, has kept us really locked in.”
Judge led the way. He won his first American League batting crown, hitting .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBI in 152 games. The captain now turns attention to October, where he owns a .205 career postseason average.
The Red Sox loom as a tough first-round test. Boston took the season series 9-4, though New York claimed two of three at Fenway earlier this month.
Game 1 features marquee left-handers. Max Fried gets the ball for the Yankees, while Boston counters with Garrett Crochet, who went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA.
“He can run it up to 100 miles an hour,” Judge said of Crochet. “Works all of his pitches in the zone when he needs to. He’s a tough matchup. It’s probably why he’s, if not one of the best, the best pitcher in the game right now and probably on his way to a Cy Young.”
The good news for New York is the entire series takes place at Yankee Stadium. The team went 50-31 at home. Still, the Red Sox won five of seven games in the Bronx this year.
“We got a rowdy crowd out there, a rowdy group that’s been behind us all year long,” Judge said. “They’re definitely going to be excited for a Yankees-Red Sox postseason matchup, that’s for sure. Expecting the Stadium to be loud on Tuesday.”
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