Red Sox will face Yankees in Wild Card Series
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Yankees vs Orioles MLB player props and odds - Sun., Sep. 28
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Ben Rice ended the season on a tear, but has lackluster numbers against lefties. Will the Yankees start him against southpaw Garrett Crochet?
As the players prepared, the front office weighed its options for the 26-man active roster and the Game 1 lineup. Here's what we learned.
The New York Yankees finished off the regular season on a high note, winning eight consecutive games. However, the Yankees were unable to overcome their rough stretch from June–July, finishing with an identical record to the Toronto Blue Jays, yet losing the division due to tiebreaker.
The New York Yankees finished one win shy of repeating as AL East champions despite beating the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 Sunday behind a pair of Ben Rice home runs for a season-ending eight-game winning streak.
Toronto clinched the AL East for the first time since 2015 with a 94-68 record, edging the Yankees thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker. That put them directly into the Division Series, while New York faces Boston in the wild-card round. Game 3 is set for Oct. 7. If it lands in the Bronx, Canadian fans will be left outside.
The Yankees need to beat the Orioles in Game 162 and they need the Blue Jays to lose to the Rays. Any other scenario and the Yankees will finish in second in the division and play in the Wild Card Series as the No. 4 seed in the American League. That best-of-three-series, against either the Red Sox or Tigers, would start on Tuesday.
For the Yankees to win the AL East, they must win today to sweep the Orioles, and the Rays must win up north at Toronto. Any other outcome and we’ll be back here Tuesday night for the opening game of the Wild Card Series. Game 162 often feels like the last day of school, but this one gives me the vibe that I have one last final to write.