Despite All The Complaining, Yankees Clinch Playoff Berth

The Yankees began their West Coast trip in grand style as they took two of three from the Mariners and in the process clinched a postseason berth for the 59th time in franchise history, and they also increased their lead in the AL East to four games. Lets get to it.

This has been a season in which the Yankees have driven most of us crazy. They’ve had long periods of poor or inconsistent offense, there have been repeated failures from a bullpen that has never really looked championship worthy, and of course the Yankees seem to suffer from never-ending sloppiness on the bases and in the field.

To which you should all say, “Aw, shut up Sal, they clinched a postseason berth.”

Fair enough. I feel like I never stop complaining about this team, though I think I usually have pretty good reasons. Still, they punched their ticket to the playoffs Wednesday night in Seattle, and in all likelihood - unless they endure a massive collapse and/or the Orioles wake up from their extended coma and go on an epic run over the final week and a half - the Yankees are also going to be AL East champions, too. Their magic number is six, meaning any combination of Yankees wins and Orioles losses adding up to six gets it done. Not only that, they will most likely avoid the wild-card round because they’ll have one of the two best records in the AL along with Cleveland.

“We’ve been through a lot already this year,” Aaron Boone said. “We understand it’s just the first step, but it’s an important one. We’re in the dance. It’s there to be taken now. We got to keep the gas pedal on and hopefully keep racking up some wins. Go get the East, that’s our next goal.”

Honestly, I’m not sure how this has happened, though kudos to the Orioles who certainly gave the Yankees a huge assist. On the morning of July 9, the Orioles led the Yankees by three games and it felt like they were just going to continually pull away. Instead, they have gone 28-35 since then while the Yankees have gone 34-27 and that has New York four games up with nine left to play.

It’s not over yet, especially since the teams meet three times at Yankee Stadium next week, but it’s looking pretty good for the Yankees because in the other series these teams have left on their schedules, the Yankees have three against the A’s this weekend and then three against the Pirates at home next weekend, two teams that are well below .500.

Meanwhile, the Orioles host red-hot Detroit this weekend, a Tigers team that is now tied with Twins for the final wild-card spot, and then they close on the road with three against those same Twins in Minnesota. No doubt, the schedule favors the Yankees, as long as they take care of business.

So the Yankees deserve props for getting into this position and exceeding my expectations, but you all know that I remain skeptical regarding October. Here’s one thing, however, that can give us all hope: There are no great teams, especially in the American League, and it really will be a wide-open bracket.

The Yankees could very easily overcome their areas of weakness and find a way to win their first AL pennant since 2009, And just as easily they could flame out in the divisional round, or suffer the ultimate gut punch and lose once again to the Astros in the ALCS.

The Astros are not the same dynamo they’ve been, but given how they have been living in the Yankees’ collective psyche for close to a decade now, that’s the last team I want to see in the other dugout come October.

“We definitely know the job’s not finished,” Aaron Judge said. “We’re hunting this division. But to get an opportunity to punch our ticket back into the postseason after last year, missing out, it means a lot. We’ve got a special group here. The boys are definitely excited, but they know the mission is ahead of them.”

Sept. 17: Yankees 11, Mariners 2

The Lead: Bats Broke Out

The series started tremendously for the offense as the Yankees scored 11 times after managing only 17 runs in their previous six games and the sparkplugs were the usual ones - Judge, Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres and Austin Wells - as they combined for eight hits, three walks, seven runs scored and nine RBIs.

For Soto it was particularly meaningful because when he homered in the fourth to make it 6-1, it meant that he has now hit a home run in all 30 major league parks which is quite a feat given that he’s only 25 years old.

“It’s a great feeling for me,” Soto said. “So many different ballparks, so many different dimensions. I just want to get all of them checked (off). What a best way to go into free agency with homers in all 30 ballparks, checking my list.”

Hmmm. Didn’t like that last sentence because he was clearly implying that while things sure have been fun in pinstripes this year, money is going to talk in the offseason and if the Yankees don’t give him the most, he’ll go elsewhere. Shudder even thinking about this offense without Soto.

Game notes and observations:

➤ Luis Gil started terribly, but he survived a rocky first inning thanks to an absolutely egregious baserunning mistake by Seattle’s Victor Robles. Gil was all over the place as he hit Robles with a pitch and walked two to load the bases with two outs. Then, behind 3-0 in the count to Justin Turner, Robles bailed him out by stupidly trying to steal home when he thought Gil wasn’t paying attention while he went to pick up the rosin bag. Gil turned around and fired home where Wells tagged Robles out. What a crazy play.

➤ From there, Gil was much better. He gave up a solo homer to Jorge Polanco in the second, but he worked out of a second and third situation in the third inning, left a runner stranded at second in the fourth, and then pitched an easy fifth which allowed him to secure his 14th win.

➤ Gil was able to pitch with a lead throughout because the Yankees attacked Bryan Woo who, even after giving up seven earned runs, still has an ERA of 2.85. So yeah, the Yankees did some great work in this game against a very good pitcher. The first three men reached in the first with Judge driving home two with a double. Then in the second, after two were out, Alex Verdugo and Torres singled, Soto walked, and Judge hit a two-run single that made it 4-0.

➤ Soto’s homer stretched the lead, Jasson Dominguez hit his first homer of the year in the fifth, and then Wells put the game out of reach with a bases-clearing three-run double in the sixth that made it 10-1.

➤ Marcus Stroman made his bullpen debut as Boone used him for the final three innings, and it wasn’t great. Stroman gave up a run on five hits as his problems with allowing too many baserunners continued. He now has a 1.434 WHIP which is his worst since 2019 and that’s the biggest reason why it’s tough to see him getting a postseason roster spot.

Sept 18: Yankees 2, Mariners 1 (10)

The Lead: Pop The Bubbly

Unlike Tuesday, the offense was terrible over the next two games as the Yankees scored only four runs on nine hits combined, but it didn’t matter in this middle game. Anthony Rizzo’s two RBI singles - one in the second, the other in the 10th - were just enough because five Yankees pitchers shut down Seattle.

Afterward, it was quite a scene in the clubhouse as the Yankees partied exceedingly hard, primarily because after the embarrassment of 2023, this was something the franchise needed.

“Missing the playoffs is not Yankee-like,” said Nestor Cortes, who was outstanding in this game with six four-hit, shutout innings. “Celebrating in ’21, celebrating in ’22, this feeling is what it’s all about. A lot of people complain about ups and downs and maybe how bad we were during the summer. But we stuck together. We’re going to try to pull off a run here. Hopefully something special.”

Well yeah, there was plenty to complain about in the summer. Now the Yankees have to make us forget about that and do something in the postseason.

Game notes and observations:

➤ We’ve been saying that Cortes may not have a spot in the postseason rotation, but maybe he should. In his last seven starts he has a 1.58 ERA and in six of those starts he allowed a combined total of two runs. He had the one bad day when the Cardinals scored five against him on Sept. 1 in a 14-7 loss, but otherwise has been their best starter lately.

➤ Once Cortes left, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes each walked a man in the seventh but Holmes was able to get dangerous Cal Raleigh on a fly out to end the threat. But then Boone stayed with Holmes in the eighth with a 1-0 lead and, well, to the surprise of no one, he blew the save, his 13th of the season. He served up an awful middle-middle slider to Justin Turner who crushed it for a tying solo homer.

➤ Luke Weaver came on and struck out two to end the eighth, and after he walked a man to start the ninth he needed only 11 pitches to go 1-2-3.

➤ In the 10th, Dominguez started at second base as the automatic runner and he immediately scored when Rizzo ripped a single to right, but that was all the Yankees got, so the Mariners had a great chance to tie it in the bottom of the 10th, or perhaps win it, and it sure looked like that was going to happen.

➤ Julio Rodriguez was the automatic runner and he went to third on a single by Raleigh off Ian Hamilton. Here, something I’ve never seen before saved the Yankees. Randy Arozarena struck out and his bat went flying down the third-base line. Rodriquez had to get out of the way, but then he completely forgot that the ball was still live after the strikeout. He was way off the base and Wells was able to gun the ball to Jazz Chisholm who tagged him out for a crazy double play. Hamilton then whiffed Turner to end the game. That was bizarre, and extremely fortunate.

Sept. 19: Mariners 3, Yankees 2

The Lead: A Bad Hangover

Yes, a hangover. That’s exactly what the Yankees looked like they were dealing with during a disastrous and decisive first inning that cost them a chance for the sweep.

The frustrated Mariners, who have watched their own playoff chances dwindle by the day - they trail the Tigers and Twins by two games in the race for the final wild-card spot - jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to some awful fielding by the Yankees, and those three runs held up all afternoon.

Clarke Schmidt put up four zeroes after the first, and then Jake Cousins, Tim Hill, and Holmes blanked Seattle over the final three, but that first inning was a killer as the Yankees never recovered.

Game notes and observations:

➤ Rodriguez, who surely wanted to make up for his boneheaded mistake the night before, led off with a single and after Raleigh popped out, the trouble magnified. Schmidt walked Arozarena, then he misplayed a bunt by Luke Raley to load the bases. Turner followed with a routine fly to left, but Dominguez had trouble with the sun and the ball clanked off his glove for an error and a 1-0 Seattle lead. Polanco hit a sacrifice fly, and JP Crawford ripped an RBI single to make it 3-0 and that was the end of Seattle’s offense. “He didn’t see it well at all,” Boone said of Dominguez. “That was costly. He just did not pick it up well at any point. Tough sky at that time (with the sun) there, but obviously, a play we’ve got to make.”

➤ The Yankees had a chance to score in the second as Dominguez led off with a double, but trying to score with two outs on Anthony Volpe’s single to right, he was gunned down at the plate by Raley.

➤ The only Yankee scoring came in the third when Judge singled and Chisholm hit a two-run homer, his 10th as a Yankee. Thereafter, crickets. Dominguez and Rizzo opened the fourth with singles, but Seattle starter Logan Gilbert retired the next three including striking out Volpe and Torres. And over the next five innings, Gilbert and four relievers did not allow a hit.

➤ In the fifth, Judge walked and Chisholm reached on a wild pitch third strike, and they each stole a base, but Giancarlo Stanton whiffed and Dominguez grounded out to kill that threat.

➤ There were a couple worrisome moments on the injury front. Cousins had to leave the game with pectoral tightness, though he said afterward he was fine. And Soto gave us all a heart attack when he banged his knee into the wall while making a great catch in foul territory in the seventh. He stayed in and said afterward he’s OK. We’ll see. “At that moment, I was literally just thinking about my health,” Soto said. “I know everybody wants me to be healthy in the playoffs. Definitely, I was thinking about my health more than anything else. … It’s a bruise, because I hit it off the wall - literally straight up in the concrete. It definitely feels better (after getting treatment).”

Now it’s on to Oakland for three this weekend against the pesky A’s. Oakland was supposed to be one of the worst teams in MLB this season, but that has not been the case. No, they aren’t going to the postseason in what is believed to be their final year playing in Oakland, but somehow, this team has put up a record of 67-86 which is quite a step up from 2023 when they were 50-112.

The A’s have a few very nice players led by DH Brent Rooker who has 38 homers, 110 RBI and a .960 OPS, basically their version of Soto. Catcher Shea Langeliers has 28 homers, outfielder JJ Bleday has 20, and outfielder Lawrence Butler has 22, all of which has the A’s ranked seventh in MLB in total homers with 193.

On the mound, the A’s have a team ERA of 4.33 which ranks 23rd in MLB, but their bullpen ERA is a little better at 3.89, 15th in MLB, and that’s fueled by flamethrowing closer Mason Miller (2.37 ERA, 27 saves, 0.857 WHIP). Yeah, he’s a stud, the kind of guy we dream of as Yankees fans at the back of the bullpen.

The pitching matchups are as follow: Friday at 9:40 on YES it’s Gerrit Cole (3.97 ERA) against J.T. Ginn (4.94); Saturday at 9:07 on YES it’s Carlos Rodón (4.12) against JP Sears (4.24); and Sunday at 4:07 on YES it’s Luis Gil (3.14) against Joey Estes (4.78).