Yankees manager Aaron Boone takes swings at Fenway Park
Yankees manager Aaron Boone stepped into the cage at Fenway Park to take a few batting practice swings before the Sept. 13, 2025 game against the Red Sox.
NEW YORK – With one eye on the field, the other on the out-of-town scoreboard, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was prepared for anything Sunday afternoon.
“At the risk of sounding boring, we’re trying to win today,’’ said Boone, regardless of the Game 162 scenario that could have ended with his club celebrating a division title.
Needing a victory at Yankee Stadium and a loss by the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 162 to repeat as AL East champs, the Yankees rode two Ben Rice homers to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2, Sunday.
But the Yankees (94-68) settled where they’ve been for a while, entering postseason as the top AL wild card.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night, the Yankees will host their ancient rival, the Boston Red Sox, in a best-of-three AL Wild Card series, which was formalized by the Blue Jays’ 13-4 win over the Rays on Sunday.
Capturing his first batting title and gunning for his second straight MVP, Yankee captain Aaron Judge (1-for-4) had said this weekend that “it won’t matter either way’’ how the Yanks enter October.
“But our first goal was to win our division,’’ said Judge, who finished with a .331 batting average, 53 homers and 114 RBI in 152 games.
After the playoff landscape was settled Sunday, Judge said: “It’s going to be a fun series (vs. Boston),’’ with a Game 1 matchup of lefties – the Yankees’ Max Fried against Boston’s Garrett Crochet.
Plus, “these last couple weeks were pretty fun,’’ Judge said of “going into a gauntlet of games where people kind of counted us out.
“And we took care of business, especially this last week,’’ Judge said of winning eight straight games to close out the regular season “(We’ll try) to keep this momentum going.’’
Toronto awaits Red Sox-Yankees series winner
Leading off the home eighth inning, Rice’s launched a tie-breaking homer to left-center off right-handed reliever Rico Garcia (eligible to earn a World Series ring, based on his lone July 2025 Yankees appearance).
The quartet of Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams and David Bednar closed out the O’s, and the Yankees soon learned they’d oppose the Red Sox, with the Wild Card series winner advancing to the best-of-five Division Series against top-seeded Toronto.
“Any team you play in postseason…is going to be a tough out,’’ Boone said earlier Sunday, without knowing the Yanks’ first round opponent.
“Each team presents different challenges and problems,’’ said Boone, who feels “great about our team and the way they are playing.’’
Healthier than they’ve been at any point, collectively, this season the Yankees won eight straight games and 25 of their last 33 as they move into October.
On Sunday, Yankees starter Luis Gil lasted five innings, charged with two runs – back-to-back fourth inning solo homers by Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson.
In the fourth, the Yanks tied it 2-2 with inning-opening singles by Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton (RBI) against O’s righty Kyle Bradish.
But Bradish responded by striking out the side to end his brief, final start of 2025.
Rice’s first homer of the game, a solo shot against Bradish, gave the Yanks a quick 1-0 lead and expanded their MLB record with 50 first-inning home runs this year – topping the Atlanta Braves’ mark of 47 homers in 2023.
“It was a good way to close out the year, with all those wins,” said Rice, who contributed 26 homers to the Yanks’ MLB-leading total of 274 this year, the sixth most by any club in MLB history.
“(We) fell short of the goal to win the division, but now we’re on to the postseason,” said Rice. “I feel like our team is is in a good spot – we feel good about ourselves.”
But as Anthony Volpe batted in the second inning, in Toronto Alejandro Kirk launched a grand slam to give the Blue Jays the early lead against Tampa Bay.
“Kind of odd watching the scoreboard like that, but excited we could finish it off like this,” said Boone. “I was locked in on it. I know where to look here, too.”
Yankees finish regular season with a flourish
A day after being drilled in the left forearm by a 97-mph fastball, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm was not in the starting lineup.
In the seventh, Chisholm came up as a pinch-hitter and struck out, remaining in the game at second base.
Starting in Chisholm’s place, Jose Caballero (0-for-1, walk) was picked off second base – a play with runners at first and second, none out, that snuffed a potential rally.
Initially ruled safe, Chisholm was called out upon replay review.
Eventually, Rice’s third-career multi-homer game and the bullpen – which closed the season with an 0.53 ERA in their last 11 games – allowed the Yanks to finish 2025 on a season-high eight-game winning streak.
“It’s on to the next,” said Boone. “We’ll keep that same focus going into the next round.”