The New York Yankees have won their 20th AL East title after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays on the road Tuesday night, 5-2.
Aaron Judge may have gone his seventh game without hitting his historic 61st homer, but he and his teammates were all smiles as they secured the second seed in the American League, thus earning themselves a bye in the postseason.
Instead of playing in the Wild Card Round, the Yankees, along with the Houston Astros, move to directly to the ALDS to await their opponent.
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The Yankees have held first place for 138 days entering Tuesday, though things were not looking good until recently. Their double-digit division lead, which got up to 15.5 games on July 8 as their largest lead of the season, diminished to 3.5 games on Sept. 9 after a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, New York persevered and won 12 of their next 15 games since then, including Tuesday’s clincher, to run their division lead back up. They have won eight of their last nine contests.
AARON JUDGE IN A CLUB OF ONE AFTER COLD STREAK FOLLOWING 60TH HOME RUN
Even though the Yankees are currently .500 in the second half (31-31), their 64-28 first-half record allowed them to have that bad stretch and still make the postseason.
It was timely hitting that got the job done in this game, with the hitters after Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres, collecting some RBI hits with runners in scoring position.
Rizzo drove in the Yankees’ first run of the game in the top of the third inning on a single to right field, and Torres followed up with a single of his own the very next at-bat.
Then, Torres found himself in a position for more runs in the fifth, where he singled to left field to score Judge. After Aaron Hicks doubled home Kyle Higashioka in the sixth, Torres laced a single to right field for his third RBI hit of the day.
Judge had five plate appearances but did not have much to hit in either of them. He laced a line drive to third base that was caught in his first at-bat. He walk four straight times after that, working the count full in all five appearances.
As such, the Yankee fans who traveled to witness potential history booed the Blue Jays’ pitching staff throughout the game.
AARON JUGE’S PRE-GAME OUTFIT HINTS AT RETURN TO YANKEES IN FREE AGENCY
Yankees starter Jameson Taillon was locked in for this outing, going 7.1 innings to keep the bullpen fresh. He struck out six batters and let up two earned runs on seven hits and no walks.
The Yankees will hope to win some more as the regular season ends in hopes of continuing their hot streak into the postseason.
Manager Aaron Boone has made the playoffs all five of his seasons.
New York will be aiming for their 28th World Series title this October, as they have not been to the final series since 2009 when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Yankees have collected 40 American League pennants in their storied history as well.
