NEW YORK -- It was always going to be a “tall order,” as manager Aaron Boone said, for the Yankees to avoid hosting an American League East clinch. That didn’t make the reality any less sour in the home clubhouse late on Tuesday, knowing that the Rays were gleefully popping corks on the opposite side of their building.
The visiting clubhouse staff stayed late after the 6-1 loss, removing the plastic sheeting and steaming the carpets. Everything else will fall to the Yankees’ players, who know they must keep pushing to get another crack at Tampa Bay in the postseason.
“It kind of sucks,” said second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. “That’s what we work on all season, but it’s not the end goal for us. The end goal is the World Series, so it doesn’t really affect us here.”
New York was held hitless into the seventh inning by an exceptionally sharp Drew Rasmussen, who struck out 11 in leading the Rays to the fifth division title in franchise history and their first since 2021.
The clubs split Tuesday’s twinbill, with Carlos Rodón firing eight brilliant innings in the opener to stall a celebration, leading the Yankees to a 2-0 win.
“You don’t want anyone to be celebrating at your stadium,” left-hander Max Fried said. “Especially with the way Carlos came out, we wanted to put some pressure and be able to win some games. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to follow up on what he was able to do.”
This confirms that the Yankees will host the American League Wild Card Series for a second consecutive year, with Game 1 scheduled for Sept. 29 -- likely against the Red Sox. The winner of that series would face Tampa Bay in the AL Division Series, which will open Oct. 3 at Tropicana Field.
“We wanted to push it off if we could,” Boone said. “Credit to them. Rasmussen was great, and they’ve put together a fantastic regular season to earn that. That’s theirs that they earned. Hopefully we get another crack at them in the next couple of weeks, but they’ve certainly earned the division.”
Fried started for New York and was charged with four runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings, though the left-hander pitched better than his line indicated.
Ryan Vilade had a run-scoring groundout in the third inning and Taylor Walls dropped a run-scoring bunt in the seventh that Fried fielded, but had no play on because first base was left uncovered.
That was on Chisholm, who should have moved to cover the bag, Boone said.
“That’s a safety situation that we know is coming more often than not,” Boone said. “He’s just got to go every time, and he knows that.”
The Yanks have had issues fielding similar plays of late; on Saturday at Arizona, pitcher Cam Schlittler bobbled a Tim Tawa bunt that set up two unearned runs, and Geraldo Perdomo dropped a bunt single that also led to a run.
“Especially when it comes to playing this type of team, you’ve just got to make sure you’re on top of your P’s and Q’s,” Fried said. “Whether that’s backing up bases or whatever it is, knowing this team is going to be putting the ball in play and putting pressure on you.”
Fried was relieved by John Schreiber, who surrendered a two-run single to Yandy Díaz, with Walls scoring from first base on a play that was ruled to stand by review. Díaz later added another two-run single to help the Rays pull away.
But the star of the night was Rasmussen, who limited the Yankees to two walks over the first six frames before Heliot Ramos’ double to open the seventh.
That was the only hit permitted by Rasmussen, who threw a career-high 114 pitches over 6 2/3 innings. George Lombard Jr. greeted Kevin Kelly with a run-scoring hit to break up the shutout.
“We’ve seen [Rasmussen] a lot,” Boone said. “Last time, we got to him, but he’s had his way with us a number of times as well.”
With the division decided, Boone said he plans to use the remaining five games to rest his roster ahead of the Wild Card Series.
Schlittler and Gerrit Cole will remain in line to make their final regular-season starts, though the Yankees will be more conservative with their pitch counts.
Fried said that despite settling for second in the division, they are “excited and confident” about the group they have going into the playoffs.
“We’ve got great arms,” Fried said. “We’ve got a guy [in Schlittler] that’s going to win the Cy Young. Anytime you have that guy in your rotation, it’s obviously a good thing. We’ve got a lot of guys throwing the ball really well right now.”