The Yankees were the only member of the top trio of American League teams playing on Monday, with both the Rays and Red Sox off inadvance of series against the A’s and Rangers, respectively. The AL West-leading [read: .500] Astros were also sidelined. So yeah, if the 2026 Yankees are the gold standard, then you know it’s a dreary night of action. Thankfully, they took care of their own business after a slow start by dropping a six-spot in the eighth inning on their ol’ Twins pals in the eighth inning to win on Clinching Day.
As it turned out though, the Yankees had already punched their 61st ticket to the postseason! Here’s what the teams that were active were up to on Monday night.
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Chicago White Sox (77-73) 7, Cleveland Guardians (76-75) 3
Separated by a half-game before first pitch, the White Sox and Guardians squared off in Cleveland to begin a three-game set that could decide both the AL Central and—believe it or not with these records—a first-round bye. It was a scoreless duel through five, with Guardos ace Gavin Williams and the opener/bulk guy combo of Sean Newcomb and Sean Burke putting goose eggs on the board. Williams returned to the mound in the sixth, looking for a couple more punchouts to tie and surpass both Dylan Cease and Jacob Misiorowski (236) for the MLB lead. Instead, he was the one who got punc—OK you get it.
It started innocently enough with an infield hit by Andrew Benintendi. Then came one of the most remarkable at-bats of the entire season, as Tristan Peters worked Williams for 18 pitches before taking a walk. It was the longest at-bat (well, plate appearance I suppose) since a 19-pitch battle by Matt Wieters for the 2020 Cardinals (sure?).
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Peters had worked Williams’ pitch count up to 113 by that point, so he was done for the night. Tim Herrin replaced him, and he honestly did his job by getting a double-play ball to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. But Lowe’s throw to second caromed off Peters’ helmet and scored Benintendi for the first run of the game.
From there, the wheels came off. Chase Meidroth singled in a second, Randal Grichuk got a knock to load the bases, Kyle Teel doubled in a pair, and after Daniel Espino replaced Herrin, Miguel Vargas dropped the hammer with a two-run bomb:
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Burke gave one back in the home half and David Fry at least briefly woke up the home crowd with a two-run homer with two down in the ninth, but this never felt close after that one inning. Final score: 7-3, Chicago, and a 1.5-game lead in the AL Central.
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AL Wild Card Rock Fight
Toronto Blue Jays (75-76) 5, Detroit Tigers (71-79) 6: Most Yankees fans’ eyes were directed at this game though, as either a Jays loss or Yankees win would punch the Bombers’ ticket to the postseason. They got both! The Jays’ loss came a little less than half an hour before New York beat Minnesota, so the Yanks got to feel good in the dugout for just a bit before they celebrated on the field.
For awhile, it looked like the wait would continue until at least tomorrow, as the Yanks trailed the Twins 2-1 through seven while the Jays rallied against the Tigers. Detroit had taken a 4-2 lead in the seventh with José Soriano set his no-hit bid ablaze, as Max Clark and Spencer Torkelson both doubled to get the Tigers ahead. But a three-run blast by Kazuma Okamoto brought the Jays back in front, 5-4. A year ago, this probably would’ve been a propeller of sorts; however, these Jays are not the same, and neither is weary Louie Varland. A pair of hits off Joe Mantiply set up the game-tying Tigers attack in the eighth on a flare to left by Brett Callahan against Varland, and a leadoff walk put Varland in position to fumble the ball away as the go-ahead run crossed home.
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After his own leadoff walk, Kenley Jansen struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and got Alejandro Kirk to bounce into a game-ending double play for his 496th career save. The Jays still trail the Guardians by a game in the AL Wild Card with the Rangers one win behind them.
Baltimore Orioles (73-78) 2, New York Mets (69-81) 1: The O’s are just barely alive in this Wild Card conversation as well, but they got the win they needed to get to three games back; they’ll need many more this week! This one was all about Pete Alonso’s long-awaited return to Queens, and the Mets fans showered him with affection on a night in which they were (appropriately) eliminated. Alonso took an oh-fer, but Gunnar Henderson broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth with a solo shot and Rico Garcia held on to close it out.
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