Yankees head to postseason for 8th time in 9 seasons with AL East race still up for grabs

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NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees are headed to the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons. But first, there’s plenty to play for over the final days of the regular season.

New York secured its spot in the postseason with a 3-2, come-from-behind win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night on José Caballero’s RBI single with two out in the ninth inning that scored team captain Aaron Judge with the winning run.

While the win clinched at least an AL wild card, the Yankees (89-68) closed within a game of East Division-leading Toronto (90-67) after the Blue Jays lost 4-1 to Boston. New York and Toronto, which won the season series over the Yankees, have five regular-season games remaining with the division crown very much up for grabs.

“Our ultimate goal is to win our division,” Judge said. “It’s still right there for us. So we’re excited about getting in, but we got bigger things ahead of us.”

If the Yankees can win the division, they can also secure the best record in the AL for the second straight season, giving them homefield advantage through the AL Championship Series.

New York clinched a postseason berth for the 26th time in 31 seasons. The Yankees have the most postseason appearances since the playoffs were expanded in 1995. The Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers are the only teams with eight playoffs appearances in the last nine seasons.

The only time the Yankees missed the playoffs since manager Aaron Boone succeeded Joe Girardi in 2018 was the 2023 season. New York finished with 82 wins and lost Judge for nearly two months after the slugger fractured his toe in a game at Dodger Stadium.

Boone became the third manager in Yankees history to make the playoffs in seven of his first eight seasons, joining Casey Stengel and Joe Torre. Torre reached the playoffs in every season from 1996 to 2007, and Stengel made the playoffs in nine of his first 10 seasons from 1949 to 1960.

“It just shows you keep playing,” said third baseman Ryan McMahon, who was acquired from Colorado on July 25. “You never know what’s going to happen. We got to take things on our end and hopefully it goes in our favor.”

This playoff berth didn’t come easily — on Tuesday or throughout the season.

In the ninth inning against Chicago, Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells opened with singles off Brandon Eisert (3-7). After Trent Grisham bounced into a double play, Judge drew his second intentional walk of the game. Cody Bellinger followed with a walk and Volpe scored on a wild pitch by Eisert. Caballero then punctuated a nine-pitch at-bat against Steven Wilson by looping a single that dropped in front of center fielder Brooks Baldwin as Judge scored the winning run.

“We’re just doing our part and we’re just going to keep playing game by game and if they fall we’re going to be right there with them,” Caballero said of the division race.

Caballero was mobbed at first base by his teammates and doused with water by Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells as he conducted his postgame interview.

“A great moment for him and it’s great for us to check that box and know we’re going back to October baseball,” Boone said.

Shortly after the infielder’s first career walk-off hit, the Yankees celebrated by spraying champagne and beer on each other as they sported T-shirts printed with “October baseball.” The celebration lasted for about an hour, and Judge was doused during his postgame interview as teammates chanted “MVP, MVP!”

After the clubhouse celebration ended, the Yankees moved the festivities to the field and posed for a group picture in center field.

After winning their first AL pennant since 2009 last season, the Yankees won 35 of their first 55 games and built a seven-game lead in the AL East. New York went 25-34 through Aug. 5, lost six of seven in Toronto between June 30-July 23 and dropped out of first place on July 3.

“It's been a challenging year, no question about it,” Boone said

New York fell 6 1/2 games behind Toronto following a 12-1 loss to the Red Sox on Aug. 23. The Yankees started a seven-game winning streak the next night and are 20-8 in their last 28 games that included a 7-5 stretch against Houston, Toronto, Detroit and Boston.

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