Yankees Clinch Playoff Birth
New York whooped Tampa Bay 12-4 to secure a place in the postseason for the 13th year in a row:
The victory, New York’s 15th in 20 games, eliminated defending AL champion Detroit from postseason contention and set up a probable first-round matchup with Cleveland, the Central champion. The Yankees are three games behind Boston with four games left, so New York’s streak of nine consecutive AL East titles is likely to end.The AL East might be out of reach, but everyone starts 0-0 in the postseason. Bring on Cleveland!New York, just 21-29 before play on May 30, has gone 70-38 since then. Players, from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, to Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera, hugged each other on the field and in the dugout following the final out.
“This is what it was about. It was a lot of unselfishness,” Torre said. “There were a lot of guys who played through some injuries, played through some fatigue. And, of course, Alex — we sort of rallied around him.”
The Yankees have made the playoffs every year since 1995, and their streak of 13 consecutive trips is one shy of the record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991-2005. They’ve made the postseason in all 12 seasons under Torre.
New York was 9 1/2 games back in the wild-card race after play on July 7.
