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MLB Playoff Wrap: Yankees Come From Behind, Add to Wild Card Drama

By Jason Burke

Sep 6, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (11) catches a fly ball by Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak (not pictured) to end the game during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 6, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (11) catches a fly ball by Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak (not pictured) to end the game during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 6, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Brandon Kintzler (27) prepares to pitch in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field. The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 10-3. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 6, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Brandon Kintzler (27) prepares to pitch in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field. The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 10-3. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

AL Playoff Races

The American League is home to some of the most intriguing MLB playoff races out there right now, hosting ten of the 18 teams that are currently in the hunt. While the AL West and AL Central appear to be relatively safe in the hands of the Rangers and Indians, the Yankees win on Tuesday (coupled with a Boston win in San Diego) tied up the AL East between the Jays and Sox who have identical 77-61 records, while the Orioles sit just one game back of both clubs.

Those three teams hold a division title and both wild card spots as things stand right now, while a Detroit loss takes them out of their tie with Baltimore and places them a game behind the pace for the second wild card spot.

The Astros took another game from Cleveland on the road, 4-3, beating Corey Kluber and earning 29-year-old James Hoyt (acquired in the Evan Gattis deal with Atlanta) his first big league win. For Houston this is a big win because not only did they not lose any ground in the wild card race, remaining two games back of a playoff berth, but the game was started by Brad Peacock, who has been nothing more than a spot starter for the club over the past two seasons.

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The Yankees win keeps them at 3.5 games back of the second wild card, while the Royals 10-3 clobbering of the Twins keeps them four games out. The Mariners dropped their contest with Texas and are currently just two games above .500 and six off the pace, continuing their typical September swoon.

Playoff Odds

The Rangers maintained their 99.8 percent chance of making the postseason, while Cleveland dropped from 98.8 to 97.8 percent, so obviously it’s time to panic. The biggest jump in percentage goes to Baltimore, who went from a 42.4 percent chance of making it to a 49.5 percent chance. Toronto went from an even 87 down to 82.4, Boston gained some percentage points going from 82.2 to 83.9 and the Yankees chances went up slightly from 3.9 to 4.6.

Outside of the AL East, Houston’s odds are looking a little better at 23.7 (previously 18.4), while Seattle gained the slimmest of chances up to 3.3 (3.2) and Kansas City went up from 3.1 to 4.4. Detroit’s playoff hopes took the biggest hit going from 61.3 to 50.8, showing the importance of each and every game.

Elimination Numbers

As we “boldly” predicted yesterday, the Twins were in fact officially eliminated from playoff contention yesterday with their loss, making them the first team to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

The Rays and A’s have elimination numbers of eight as it concerns the wild card race, while the suddenly hot (until Tuesday) Angels sit at 11. From the bottom up, the rest of the list consists of the White Sox (15), Mariners (19), Royals (21), Yankees (22), Astros (23) and Tigers (24). Detroit’s saving grace this year, as it is most years, may be that they don’t reside in the AL East and can beat up on lesser teams than their Eastern foes have to contend with.

Author’s Hot Take

It’s hard not to root for the Yankees to at the very least make this interesting, while at the same time it feels weird to call them an underdog. Prospects always bring excitement, and that’s one reason it’s been so enjoyable to watch their recent run. With the Astros being one of the streakier teams in baseball but trending upward at the moment, you have to like their chances of claiming one of the two wild card spots. Not having to go head-to-head with the AL East certainly helps their cause, and if they can just not get swept by the Rangers in their three remaining games, they should set themselves up nicely with a relatively soft schedule outside of the Cubs this weekend and Texas next week.

Boston has a good chance of pulling off the division, possessing the best offense in baseball and enough pitching to have that make a difference, leaving the Orioles and Blue Jays to be the favorites to land a wild card spot. Of the two, the nod goes to Toronto because of their rotation, but if the Yankees can complete the sweep of the Jays at home on Wednesday, that pick may change.

Next: NL Playoff Races

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