The MLB postseason field is starting to come together. Wednesday night the New York Yankees clinched a playoff berth with their win over the Seattle Mariners (NYY 2, SEA 1 in 10 innings). The Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to lock up a postseason spot earlier in the day when they clinched the NL Central title. Two of the 12 playoff spots have been claimed.
New York clinched a postseason berth thanks to Anthony Rizzo's go-ahead RBI double in the tenth inning. In the bottom of the tenth, Julio Rodríguez got picked off third when he strayed too far from the bag avoiding Randy Arozarena's bat after he lost it on a swinging strike three. Check it out:
What a play by Wells 😤 pic.twitter.com/cuINZOEXss
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 19, 2024
It's important to note the Yankees have merely clinched a postseason berth. They are assured of being no worse than the third wild-card team and that's it right now. Their magic number to clinch the AL East -- the combination of Yankees wins and/or Baltimore Orioles losses needed to clinch the division -- is six. New York could clinch the division as soon as Saturday.
For the Yankees, a postseason berth is merely the first step toward their larger goal. They want to win the AL East -- the Yankees last won the AL East in 2022 -- and also finish with one of the American League's two best records, which would give them a Wild Card Series bye. At 89-63, the Yankees have the AL's best record, 1.5 games up on the Cleveland Guardians.
A year ago the Yankees went 82-80, their worst record since a 76-86 showing in 1992, which was also their most recent losing season. They responded over the winter by trading for Juan Soto, who slugged his 40th home run Tuesday night. The Yankees last won the World Series in 2009. Clinching a postseason berth gives 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 could all do so Thursday. Similar to the Yankees, those would only be playoff spots. All three teams would still have more work to do to win their divisions despite sitting in first place.
