Rays Clinch AL East Title Beating Yankees in Nightcap
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The Tampa Bay Rays entered their four-game series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium needing only one victory to clinch the American League East division.
One win would erase the entirety of their Magic Number because a victory would also give them the season-long tiebreaker, dropping the Magic Number by three. The Rays would have two chances to accomplish that feat on Tuesday.
The teams played a doubleheader, and Tampa Bay couldn’t get the bats going in Game 1. They lost the game 2-0, with the only runs of the contest coming courtesy of a two-run home run by Cody Bellinger.
The Rays had no answer for Carlos Rodon, who threw three shutout innings before handing the ball to David Bednar to close the deal. However, in Game 2, Tampa Bay was able to bounce back and get the job done, officially clinching the AL East.
Rays clinch AL East with strong showing against Yankees
Tampa Bay won 6-1 for their 96th win of the year and fifth division title in franchise history. It was an impressive feat, playing a unique brand of baseball that is hard for teams to compete against.
That was on full display in the victory, as the Rays had only two extra-base hits the entire night but still managed to generate six runs. Their small-ball style of play proved to be the difference, generating runs in different fashions.
The first run of the game came courtesy of Ryan Vilade, who grounded out to second base with runners on second and third to score Taylor Walls in the third inning. There wasn’t another run scored until the seventh inning, when small ball struck again.
Drew 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/XGZ2ZH0jmx
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 22, 2026
Walls was in the middle of it. Noted for his ability to generate offense by bunting, he struck again. He laid down a safety squeeze, and the Yankees didn’t execute their defensive play properly, as no one covered first base.
Walls was safe easily, with Chandler Simpson coming home without a throw for the second run of the game. Two batters later, Yandy Diaz broke the game open with a single to the left-center gap.
Ben Williamson scored, and Walls was flying behind him, sliding headfirst to barely beat the tag by catcher Austin Wells.
The moment your Tampa Bay Rays became 2026 AL East Division Champions pic.twitter.com/2cqBD57nEk
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 23, 2026
That gave Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead, but George Lombard cut into that in the bottom of the seventh, delivering an RBI single.
Kevin Kelly gave up the hit to Lombard, but the run was charged to Drew Rasmussen, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. In one of the best starts of his career, he struck out 11 batters in a dominant performance.
It was an all-around great game for the Rays, with Diaz breaking out of his slump with a two-RBI single in the top of the ninth as the icing on the cake before the team celebrated their division title.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. Previously, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.