Yankees.com: Yanks beat Mariners, secure postseason berth

From Bryan Hoch:

The first hints that the building blocks were in place for a winning Yankees season could be glimpsed through chain-link fences on February mornings in Tampa, Fla., where recognizable players arrived weeks ahead of their mandated report dates. A blockbuster trade to import Juan Soto had everyone dreaming big.

With outsized expectations accompanying the powerful tandem of Soto and Aaron Judge, the superstars have delivered on their promise, helping the club reach its first objective. The Yankees are officially back in the postseason, punching their ticket with a 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Mariners on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park.

Don’t get me wrong, making the playoffs IS notable, in and of itself, but I don’t think any of us will really be doing any REAL celebrating until the Yankees clinch one of the first round byes, and preferably the #1 overall seed in the American League.

Up five with ten to play means that the Yankees are in good shape to do so, but the Orioles have the tiebreaker, so let’s say it’s really a 4.5 game lead with 10 to play. So if the Yankees go 4-6, the Orioles would have to go 9-1 to win the division (the Yankees can also actually still get the tiebreaker back from Baltimore with a sweep of the O’s next week, but a sweep of the O’s would also mean that the tiebreaker wouldn’t be necessary, ya know?). Even a 2-8 record would require the Orioles to go 7-3.

Nestor Cortes deserves the featured image, but I couldn’t help but go with the turning point of the game, where Julio Rodriguez was caught too far off of third base after Randy Arozarena struck out in the bottom of the tenth with no outs and runners and first and third, and his bat went flying towards Rodriguez. Rodriguez naturally moved out of the way, but then stayed too far away, and Austin Wells alertly realized he was too far off of the bag, and threw to third, where Jazz Chisholm tagged him out. You’ll rarely see an image like a runner getting thrown out at third from THIS angle before.

Now, on to the bad news – the offense sucked again (although Anthony Rizzo had two really well struck hits, which might be a good sign), and Boone once again trusted Clay Holmes in a big spot, and Holmes predictably blew it. He blew his second save since being removed as the closer for blowing too many saves! Make that make sense!

Between Luke Weaver and Ian Hamilton, the Yankees have the end of the game in good hands in the playoffs. Sprinkle in some Jake Cousins, Tommy Kahnle, and Tim Hill, and you have yourself a pretty good playoff bullpen. Nestor has been pitching so well that he might be forcing his way into the playoff rotation at this point.

In any event, congrats to the Yankees, now go win the division!