Yankees seal spot in MLB playoffs: New York becomes first AL team in postseason field
The MLB postseason field is starting to come together. The New York Yankees clinched a playoff berth with their win over the Seattle Mariners (NYY 2, SEA 1 in 10 innings) on Wednesday night. The Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to secure a postseason spot earlier in the day when They won the NL Central title.Two of the 12 playoff spots have already been claimed.
New York clinched a postseason berth thanks to Anthony Rizzo’s RBI double in the tenth inning. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Julio Rodriguez was picked off at third when he moved too far away from the bag after losing Randy Arozarena’s bat on a swinging strike three. Watch this:
It’s important to note that the Yankees have only just clinched a postseason berth. They’re expected to be no lower than the third wild-card team, and that’s it for now. Their magic number to win the AL East — the combination of a Yankees win and/or a Baltimore Orioles loss needed to win the division — is six. New York can win the division as early as Saturday.
For the Yankees, a postseason berth is just the first step toward their bigger goal. They want to win the AL East — the Yankees last won the AL East in 2022 — and finish with one of the American League’s two best records, which would give them a bye in the Wild Card Series. At 89-63, the Yankees have the AL’s best record, 1.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians.
The Yankees finished 82–80 a year earlier, their worst record since 76–86 in 1992, which was also their most recent losing season. They responded in the winter by trading for Juan Soto, who hit his 40th home run on Tuesday nightThe Yankees last won the World Series in 2009. Securing a postseason berth will give them a chance to end that drought in 2024.
The Guardians, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies are next in line to clinch a postseason berth. They can all do so on Thursday. Like the Yankees, they will only be playoff berths. All three teams will still have more work to do to win their divisions despite finishing in first place.
