The Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Aaron Judge's walk-off single to clinch a postseason berth.
Here are the takeaways...
- Jameson Taillon breezed through the first two innings, but then found himself in trouble in the third. He walked Kevin Kiermaier with one out, and then let up a single to Brandon Lowe to give the Rays runners on the corners. Taillon struck out Randy Arozarena for the second out and got Wander Franco to fly out and escape the inning.
- Taillon came back out to pitch the fourth, and tossed one pitch to Nelson Cruz for a fly out. Wandy Peralta came in for relief, ending Taillon's day after allowing two hits with two strikeouts over 3.1 IP. Austin Meadows doubled to left field, and then Peralta walked Ji-Man Choi. Mike Zunino grounded into the force out at third base, but beat out the throw to first. Gleyber Torres made a great play to get the out at first and prevent Tampa from taking the lead.
- Peralta struck out the first two batters in the fifth, and then Clay Holmes came in and struck out Arozarena to complete the 1-2-3 inning and keep the game tied. Gio Urshela got the Yanks out of the sixth inning, making an incredible running catch in foul territory, flying into the Tampa Bay dugout at full speed and crashing into the bench. Urshela limped out after getting help from team trainers, and got a loud applause from the crowd for his effort.
- After a leadoff double and a walk in the seventh inning, Jonathan Loaisiga came in for Chad Green to get the Yanks out of the jam. Loaisiga did his job, getting a pop out in foul territory for the third out.
In the eighth, Arozarena singled and then stole second base. He tagged up to third base on Franco's fly ball to left for the first out. Loiasiga struck out Cruz, and got Meadows to fly out to right to end the inning.
- Rougned Odor singled to center in the ninth, and Tyler Wade came in as the pinch-runner. Torres hit a fly out to the warning track in center, allowing Wade to tag up to second. Anthony Rizzo hit a line drive to right field, but Wade was held up at third base, and Rizzo advanced to second.
Aaron Judge came through with the walk-off ground ball to second, as Wade beat the throw home to win the game 1-0. It was Judge's first career walk-off hit.