NEW YORK — José Caballero rounded first base, pumped his fists and in a moment of pure joy, chucked his helmet with one hand into the infield dirt at Yankee Stadium.
Even before Aaron Judge slid home with the winning run, teammates were already rushing onto the field from the dugout.
They knew it. Caballero knew it. And a Bronx crowd of 38,318 fans knew it, erupting into a thunder of cheers as the Yankees clinched a spot in the 2025 postseason with a dramatic 3-2 win over the White Sox on Tuesday night.
“It’s amazing — amazing to turn to first base, turn around and see the whole team coming at you to celebrate,” Caballero said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”
When the Yankees acquired Caballero from the Rays in a trade on July 31, the utility player realized he suddenly had a much greater chance of playing October baseball. It was something he dreamed of in a long road from Panama City, moving to the United States at 20 years old in 2017 and being drafted by the Diamondbacks, but not debuting in Major League Baseball until 2023.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine it transpiring this way.
And yet it was fitting. Fitting for a player who brought a spark to the Yankees after the July trade deadline. Fitting for a team that has faced scrutiny, especially as it slid into second place and then third place in the American League East when it closed the first half of this roller-coaster season with losses in 18 of 31 games.
“We never doubted each other,” left fielder Cody Bellinger said. “We understand the talent here, and obviously we weren’t playing our best baseball at one point, but at the end of the day, that’s baseball: 162 games. Ultimately, we believe in each other, we have a really good team, and we’ve just got to keep playing good baseball.”
The New York Yankees celebrate after they clinched playoff berth a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
That resilience shined through in a game where the Yankees stranded nine base runners and batted 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position through the first eight innings against a quartet of White Sox pitchers.
Never quit.
Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells led off the bottom of the ninth with singles off of left-hander Brandon Eisert. Trent Grisham grounded into a double play, but Volpe advanced to third. After intentionally walking Judge, Eisert fired a 3-2 fastball over the catcher’s head with Bellinger at the plate, allowing Volpe to scamper home with the tying run.
That set the stage for Caballero, who had entered the game as a pinch-runner in the eighth and won a ninth-pitch battle with right-hander Steven Wilson by lofting a 2-2 slider into right field for a single.
“Whatever role we’ve had him in since he’s come over (from Tampa), he’s done it well,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s a tough at-bat. Wilson’s tough. And he gets down in the count, lays off some tough pitches, and then spoils, spoils, spoils, and is able to dump one out there. A great moment for him, and it’s great for us to check that box and know we’re going back to October baseball.”
In a jubilant clubhouse, the lockers were covered with paper to shield against the onslaught of drinks being sprayed as players hollered and hugged. In one moment after an interview, an “MVP!” chant broke out for Judge, who is likely to win the AL’s Most Valuable Player Award for the third time.
For the Yankee captain, the slugger who is on a Hall of Fame track, to be the one to cross home plate with the running run cemented the perfect script for the Bronx Bombers.
“It takes a lot of hard work to get to this point. It’s a long season,” Judge said. “Our ultimate goal is to win our division. It’s still right there for us, so we’re excited about getting in, but we’ve got bigger things ahead of us.”
The Yankees guaranteed with Tuesday’s win that they will at least be a Wild Card team in the playoffs, but they trailed the Blue Jays by only one game for first place in the AL East entering Wednesday’s slate of games.
The division winner will likely be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed and earn a bye to the AL Division Series. As it stands, the Yankees would be the No. 4 seed and host the Red Sox for a best-of-three Wild Card Series.
New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge runs to home plate to score on a walk-off RBI single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Whatever their path back to the World Series, the reigning AL champions are confident. The Yankees lead MLB in runs and home runs, and they have two All-Star pitchers at the front of their rotation in Max Fried and Carlos Rodón.
This group is also driven by the loss to the Dodgers in last year’s Fall Classic, which still feels like yesterday in the mind of second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.
“The way we come together, the amount of talent, and the way that everybody on this team wants to win a ring, that’s what makes this team,” Chisholm said. “We really genuinely want to win.”
There will be time for pundits and fans alike to dissect that next week. For now, the first step is complete in a journey that began in February with spring training. The Yankees are in the playoffs for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, and it was an achievement that required numerous contributions on Tuesday.
Starting pitcher Luis Gil gutted through six innings, allowing only two runs on a home run by Colston Montgomery in the sixth. That erased the Yankees’ early 1-0 lead supplied by Wells’ RBI double in the second. For it while, it looked like the White Sox going to spoil this special night.
Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill and Luke Weaver hurled three innings of scoreless relief, keeping the Yankees within striking distance even as they were squandering scoring chances.
But when the stakes were at their highest in the final frame, Caballero and his teammates refused to give in.
“It’s a special group here,” Caballero said. “It’s a group of guys that work hard together and have one thing in mind, and it’s to be in the postseason and to win it all.”
Originally Published: September 24, 2025 at 1:25 AM EDT