Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Clinch Division Title With Win Over Blue Jays

New York is back on top in the American League East for the first time since 2019.

Max Goodman

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TORONTO — Throughout the 2022 regular season—as the Yankees roared out of the gates with a historic start, creating a massive cushion in the American League East—a division title felt like a foregone conclusion.

There were some concerns in August, leading into early September. New York's lead shrunk to just 3.5 games at one point as the Yankees went 10-18, by far their worst month of the season.

New York eventually righted the ship, though, watching as their magic number slowly decreased. Now, after holding the champagne on ice on Monday in Toronto, it's officially time to celebrate. 

Defeating the Blue Jays 5-2 on Tuesday night, the Yankees clinched the American League East, their first division title since 2019. They also secured a first-round bye for the postseason along with home-field advantage for the American League Division Series.

Starter Jameson Taillon served up a leadoff home run to Blue Jays center fielder George Springer in the bottom of the first, a bad omen for a pitcher that's struggled to limit the long ball. Since July 1, Taillon is second in Major League Baseball with 17 home runs allowed. Only his teammate Gerrit Cole has given up more homers in that span (19).

But Taillon quickly settled into a groove. The right-hander ended up pitching into the eighth, finishing with 7.1 innings of two-run ball. He struck out six batters, allowing seven hits. 

In the eighth, Taillon allowed two singles. Yankees manager Aaron Boone called to the bullpen, bringing reliever Lou Trivino in to face Springer. All he needed was one pitch, inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.

Trivino pitched the ninth inning, closing it out and igniting the celebration for the road team at the Rogers Centre. 

On offense, second baseman Gleyber Torres led the way with three hits and three runs batted in. Aaron Judge continued to sit on 60 home runs, but still contributed, walking four times in the victory while scoring twice.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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