Yankees win finale, but Blue Jays claim AL East title

Hope percolated throughout Yankee Stadium in the early going Sunday afternoon that the Yankees might just be able to close a remarkable September run to cop a most unlikely AL East title.

But eight wins in a row to close the season — which Ben Rice secured with his second home run of the day, a tiebreaking eighth-inning shot that ultimately gave the Yankees a 3-2 victory over the Orioles  — wasn’t enough.

After falling behind the Rays 1-0 in the top of the first, the Blue Jays got two home runs and six RBIs from longtime Yankees-killer Alejandro Kirk and clinched the division title with a 13-4 victory in Toronto.

The Blue Jays and Yankees both finished at 94-68, tied for the best record in the American League and the third-best record in the majors. But Toronto's tiebreaker advantage relegated the Yankees to the fourth seed and a best-of-three Wild Card Series against their most familiar of foes, the Red Sox (89-73).

The entire series will be contested at the Stadium starting Tuesday night. Yankees ace Max Fried 19-5, 2.86) will be opposed by Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet (18-5, 2.59).

The winner of that series then will head to Toronto for the Division Series.

“It’s a ballclub with a great lineup, obviously good starting pitching, a good back end of their bullpen,” Aaron Judge   said of the Red Sox. “We’ve had some battles with them all year. Looking forward to another fun series.”

The Yankees, who wound up in the wild-card round because they lost the season series to the Blue Jays 8-5,  lost the season series against the Red Sox 9-4, although they did win three of the last four games. That was part of the Yankees’ 32-12 record to close the season after a 20-31 stretch dropped them to 62-56 on Aug. 10.

“I feel as good about this team as I have any team I’ve had here at this point of the season,” Aaron Boone, who completed his eighth regular season as Yankees manager, said before Sunday’s game. “Obviously, last year we got to the World Series and had a really good club, but were still a little short or flawed in certain areas. This team can beat you a lot of different ways, and we’re healthy, and I feel like the pen, which has been a talking point all season long, understandably, I feel like is maybe at its best point of the year. I feel good about taking our shot with these guys.”

The importance of the Wild Card Series being held at Yankee Stadium can’t be overstated. The Yankees went 50-31 at home this season and 44-37 on the road. The Red Sox went 48-33 at home and 41-40 on the road (though they did go 5-2 at Yankee Stadium).

“We got a rowdy crowd out there, a rowdy group that’s been behind us all year long,” said Judge, who hit .331 to win his first American League batting title. “Even in our tough times in the summer, they still were showing up supporting us. 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.”

Before the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the first, the scoreboard showed the Rays holding a 1-0 lead over the Blue Jays.

And after Luis Gil needed only 10 pitches to get through the top of the first, the crowd of 45,004 erupted with one out in the bottom half when Rice clobbered a first-pitch, 96-mph fastball from righthander Kyle Bradish 421 feet into the netting overhanging Monument Park for a 1-0 lead.

But Kirk hit a grand slam in a five-run first, and though the Rays pulled within 5-4 by the third, he added a two-run homer to help  pave  the way for a Toronto blowout.

For the Yankees, there would be no improbable AL East title and the extra rest that would come with receiving a bye.

“Yeah,” Judge said of perhaps looking back at certain games during the regular season with regret. “But that’s what we say all year long — the games in March, April are just as important as Game 162. Nothing we can do about it now besides turn the page and get locked in on October.”

Still, there was little for Yankees fans to be discouraged about from Sunday.

Rice, getting the start at first base, finished the season with 26 homers. Gil, though he probably did not do enough to win the competition with rookie Cam Schlittler to be the starter in the third playoff game (if one is necessary),  still was solid. The righthander allowed two runs — back-to-back homers by Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson that gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead in the fourth — three hits and two walks in a 79-pitch outing.

The bullpen, brilliant most of the month,  again was superb on Sunday as Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams served as a bridge to closer David Bednar. The four relievers allowed no runs, two hits and two walks in four innings.

After Giancarlo Stanton's RBI single in the fourth tied it, Rice hit a 401-foot opposite-field homer into the Orioles' bullpen in the eighth for the go-ahead run.

The way the Yankees have been playing since mid-August, maybe not having much time off isn’t the worst thing.

“Excited we could finish it off like this,” Boone said. “We have a day off and here we go.”

We'll see you there.

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— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 28, 2025