ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays have already punched their postseason ticket. The next box to check is the American League East - and it may not take long.
Tampa Bay beat the Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Sunday at Tropicana Field to move to 95-60, Pinstripe Alley and CBS Sports both reported, six games ahead of the New York Yankees with seven games left. The Rays travel to Yankee Stadium for four games in three days beginning with a Tuesday doubleheader.
CBS Sports' final-week ledger is blunt: one win in those four games clinches the division title, locks the AL's No. 1 seed and secures a Wild Card Series bye.
USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale, writing after New York's Sunday loss in Arizona, reached the same conclusion from the other clubhouse. The Yankees will almost certainly watch Tampa Bay celebrate a first AL East title since 2021 on their own field this week unless New York sweeps the set - the only remaining mathematical path for the Yankees to stay alive in the division race.
What one win finishes
The Rays have already clinched a better record than whoever wins the AL Central or AL West, CBS Sports noted, so the East title and the league's top seed travel together. Catching Milwaukee for baseball's best record is a longer shot - Tampa Bay sits two games back and the Brewers hold the tiebreaker - but the division case is nearly closed.
Sunday's win was Tampa Bay's 55th at home, a franchise record, Pinstripe Alley reported. Chandler Simpson drove in two runs in a four-run first and sat at a .309 average after the game, keeping him in the American League batting-title conversation. Griffin Jax and the bullpen finished a series win that left Boston celebrating a clinched berth anyway after Houston lost to Atlanta.
Ben Williamson returned from the injured list Sunday and went 0-for-3, Roundtable noted, giving manager Kevin Cash another roster option as October decisions tighten. Cash still has to settle a postseason rotation and how - or whether - arms such as Ian Seymour and Shane McClanahan fit if health allows. Those questions get quieter once the East is formally put away.
Yankees already looking past the East
New York is 89-66 and already locked into the playoffs, Nightengale reported. Aaron Boone framed the week as both a chance to "kick their butts" and a tune-up for a likely Wild Card Series against Boston beginning Sept. 29 at Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge remains sidelined as the club prioritizes getting him healthy for October.
