AL Playoff Race (Sept. 27): Yankees Beat Blue Jays to Clinch AL East; Judge Stuck at 60

The New York Yankees clinched the American League East division title on Tuesday night after beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2. They'll get a first-round bye. Here are Tuesday's summaries, Wednesday's pitching matchups and our up-to-the-minute playoff positioning tracker.

As much as they like to thump their chests and brag on their greatness both past and present, the New York Yankees still were able to raise a glass and celebrate a division title on Tuesday night.

 It is, after all, quite an accomplishment.

They know all about how hard it is to win the American League East, mostly because they haven't done it very often lately. After beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 at Rogers Centre. 

“This is a special group,” said Aaron Judge, soaked from division title cap to toe after his teammates doused him while dancing in his glow. “We went out there, playing in the toughest division in baseball, and won our division. I like our chances that’s for sure.”

Winning the AL East was supposed to be a formality back in June and July when the Yankees dashed out to a hot start, going 61-23. They built a 15 ¹/₂-game lead on July 8,, but just two months later — plagued by injuries and across-the-board slumps — that lead had dropped to just 3 ½ games over the Rays on Sept. 9.

But since then, the Yankees have turned things around again, going 12-3 to pull away from the Rays and Blue Jays. It's just their second AL East title in 10, with their 2019 title the only one since 2013.

“This is a special group,” said Aaron Judge, soaked from division title cap to toe after his teammates doused him while dancing in his glow. “We went out there, playing in the toughest division in baseball, and won our division. I like our chances that’s for sure.”

Aaron Judge had five plate appearances, but what walked four times. He's still stuck on 60 home runs, for the eighth straight day. He needs one more home run to tie Roger Maris for the American League record.

The Yankees are pretty much locked into the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs, getting a first-round bye. They are 6 1/2 games behind top-seed Houston with eight games to go.  Cleveland — the AL Central champions — is locked into the No. 3 spot.

Here's what happened with the playoff contenders on Tuesday night, along with pitching matchups for Wednesday's games among playoff contenders and a quick snapshot of the current AL playoff picture.

Tuesday's results for AL playoff contenders

• ASTROS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 2: The Houston Astros hit five home runs, including two from Jose Altuve, to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-2. Houston's Yordan Alvarez, who has 37 homers, left in the fifth inning with an ankle injury. The Astros' magic number to clinch home-field advantage is down to one. 
• YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 2: Gleyber Torres had three hits and drove in three runs and James Taillon (14-5) pitched 7 1/3 sharp innings, allowing two runs and five hits in. 5-2 win over the Tornto Blue Jays. Taillon is 4-0 in five career starts in Toronto.
• RAYS 6, GUARDIANS 5 (11 innings): Tampa Bay got a two-run double from Harold Ramirez in the sixth inning to grab the series opener in Cleveland. It was the return of Corey Kulber to Cleveland, the first time he's pitched in Cleveland after nine great yeas in Cleveland, where he won two Cy Young awards and reached World Series.
• RANGERS 5, MARINERS 0: Seattle continue to stagger down the stretch, losing to Texas 5-0 for their eighth loss in 11 games. The Rangers used six pitchers in the shutout, allowing just five hits. Robbie Rays allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings for Seattle and is now 12-11 on the season.
• RED SOX 13, ORIOLES 9: Kyle Bradish gave up seven runs in just two-plus innings as the Baltimore Orioles got knocked around 13-9 by the Boston Red Sox. Baltimore had four homers in the loss, including two from Anthony Santandar. Rookie Adley Rutschman hit his 13th homer of the season.

Wednesday's schedule, with pitchers

• Tampa Bay Rays (Tyler Glasnow 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Cleveland Guardians (Tristan McKenzie 11-11, 3.04 ERA), 6:10 p.m. ET
• New York Yankees (Gerrit Cole 12-7, 3.49 ERA) at Toronto Blue Jays (Mitch White 1-6, 5.12 ERA), 7:07 p.m. ET
• Baltimore Orioles (Dean Kremer 8-5, 3.07 ERA) at Boston Red Sox (Rich Hill 7-7, 4.65 ERA), 7:10 p.m. ET 
• Arizona Diamondbacks (Zac Gallen 12-3, 2.47 ERA) at Houston Astros (Justin Verlander 17-4, 1.82 ERA), 8:10 p.m. ET
• Texas Rangers (Martin Perez 12-6, 2.90 ERA) at Seattle Mariners (George Kirby 7-4, 3.30 ERA), 9:40 p.m. ET 

If the playoffs started today ...

• No. 1 seed — The Houston Astros (102-53, AL West champion, would get first-round bye) are the top seed, andt heir magic number to clinch the top seed is one. They have already clinched a first-round bye.
• No. 2 seed — The New York Yankees (95-59, AL East champion, would get first-round bye) are almost locked in to the No. 2 seed with Houston's magic number down to win. The Yankees can't be caught by Cleveland.  
• No. 3 seed — The Cleveland Guardians (86-68, the AL Central champion would host No. 6 seed in best-of-three first-round series). They clinched the division thanks to epic collapses by Minnesota and Chicago. They would host Seattle in a 3-6 matchup as of Wednesday 
• No. 4 seed — The Toronto Blue Jays (87-68, the top wild-card team, would host the No. 5 seed Tampa Bay in a best-of-three first-round series). The Jays are now 1 1/2 games clear of Tampa Bay for the top wild-card spot, but they do not hold the tie-breaker with Tampa Bay. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two. 
• No. 5 seed — The Tampa Bay Rays (85-69, the second wild-card) is 1 1/2 games behind Toronto and a 1 1/2 games ahead of Seattle. They are five games clear of the Baltimore Orioles, with a magic number of three to claim a wild-card spot
• No. 6 seed — The Seattle Mariners (83-70, third wild-card team, would play at No. 3 seed Cleveland in a best-of-three first-round series). They are 3 1/2 games ahead Baltimore with nine to play

Outside looking in

• BALTIMORE ORIOLES (80-74): The Orioles are just 5-7 in their past dozen games and they've failed to take advantage of Seattle's struggles. But they are still just 3 1/2 games out, and can still be a factor.