The Yankees are one win from locking up a playoff berth after finishing off the Mets 2-0 on Sunday in the Bronx, but the race for the AL East is still being dragged around by Tampa Bay’s latest stretch of nonsense.
Sunday’s win gave New York an 86-63 record and left the club with a magic number of one heading into Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins. Will Warren is set to face former division rival Dean Kremer, and the Yankees are expected to celebrate the clinch on the road, with that final win likely coming sometime over the next week against either the Twins or the Diamondbacks.
The clincher came behind a strong Cam Schlittler outing, home runs from Ben Rice and Austin Wells, and a save from David Bednar. Afterward, Bryan Hoch summed it up plainly: "Ballgame over, Yankees win. 2-0 is your final over the Mets.
The Yankees' magic number for a playoff clinch is down to 1.
- Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) September 13, 2026"
That part is nearly done. The harder climb is the division, where the Rays keep refusing to cooperate.
Tampa Bay swept the Houston Astros over the weekend, and AL MVP front-runner Yordan Álvarez did not play in a single full game. He missed Friday and Saturday because of ankle soreness, then was taken out early in Sunday’s 14-4 rout.
Before this weekend, Álvarez had missed only two games all season.
New York is still four games behind Tampa with about a week to go before the two clubs meet for a four-game series. The Yankees would love for that gap to shrink before the Rays come to town next Tuesday, but the calendar is starting to work against them.
Both teams went 5-1 this past week - New York against the Rockies and Mets, Tampa against the Braves and Astros - so the Yankees didn’t lose any ground. They also didn’t gain any.
At this point, the path is straightforward: the Yankees need to keep winning, line up their pitching the way they want it, and hope Tampa finally stumbles somewhere in its remaining run against the A’s, Sox and Phillies.
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For New York, the AFL is about more than just innings and at-bats. It is a controlled setting for Kilby to get back into a rhythm, stack development time and show how his bat plays against advanced competition after the layoff. How he looks there will help shape the next step in a system that is clearly still invested in his upside. [Read more 🡒]