New York Yankees Joel Sherman Yankees’ AL East fumble only assures them some playoff peril By Joel Sherman Published Sep. 22, 2026, 11:37 p.m. ET Ryan McMahon flies out in the third inning of the Yankees' 6-1 loss to the Rays in Game 2 of a split doubleheader on Sept. 22, 2026 at the Stadium. Robert Sabo for New York Post At least they avoided being no-hit.
Aside from that, it was a humiliating Tuesday night for the Yankees in the nightcap of both a doubleheader and their chance to win the AL East.
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Their pathologies on offense, notably being unable to generate much of it without Aaron Judge, and defense, plenty but certainly their inability to adequately defend the bunt, conspired to enable the Rays to win 6-1, split a doubleheader, clinch the division and celebrate by donning AL East championship caps and T-shirts while still on the field in The Bronx.
Tampa Bay, with its 96th win, most deservedly earned its third AL East title since 2020 (or one more than the Yankees). And the Yankees most deservedly earned the distinction as second best in the division. Because after all the spring talk that they had learned their lesson about, among other items, not falling asleep in the midseason as they did last year to allow Toronto to surge in front and ultimately win the division via head-to-head tiebreaker, the Yankees hit the midseason snooze button again.
