PHOENIX — Both the Yankees and Rays saw their respective games end in walk-off fashion on Saturday, but only one of the division rivals emerged victorious.
It wasn’t the Yanks, who suffered a 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks when Michael Fulmer surrendered a game-ending, two-run home to Pavin Smith with one out in the ninth inning. Aaron Boone said that he considered using Clarke Schmidt, one game back from Tommy John surgery, instead, but he went with the journeyman Fulmer because he’s had more experience in those situations.
“I just felt like Fulmer’s been in these spots and throwing the ball really well for us, and Smith got him there,” Boone said of the reliever, who has a 3.09 ERA this season.
Meanwhile, at Tropicana Field, the Rays pulled off a 2-1 win over the Red Sox thanks to a bloop single from Richie Palacios in the ninth. Tampa now has a five-game lead over the Yankees with just eight games left in the regular season.
The American League East foes will play four of those games against each other at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 22-24, starting with a doubleheader on Tuesday. Boone acknowledged that his club will probably have to sweep the Rays for a crack at a division title.
“We sweep, then it gets interesting,” the manager said with the Yankees’ postseason ticket already punched.
But the odds are already stacked against the Yankees with the team finishing its series in Arizona on Sunday. They entered Saturday with a just a 2.8% chance of winning the division, according to FanGraphs.
Tampa Bay Rays’ Richie Palacios, front, gets doused by Taylor Walls after Palacios hit a walk off single off Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Making matters tougher is that the Rays, owners of the AL’s best record, currently lead the season series between the two teams, 6-3. There’s also the fact that the Yankees will be without Aaron Judge, who returned to the injured list with calf strain on Saturday.
“They’re playing tremendous baseball, so it’s tough to climb up in the standings when they keep winning,” Cody Bellinger said after going 0-for-4 on Saturday. “So mathematically, it’s pretty tough, but gotta keep on rolling.”
“We gotta go on a good run. It’s gonna be tough,” added Cam Schlittler, who allowed one earned run over six innings but committed a costly error on Saturday. “I think we’ve had opportunities all season to put ourselves ahead, and we haven’t done a great job with it. So there’s still a chance, but we gotta play our asses off a little bit.”
The good news for the Yankees is that their best starters are lined up to face the Rays. While they haven’t officially announced their probables for the series, it looks like Max Fried and Carlos Rodón will pitch the doubleheader before Gerrit Cole and Schlittler, the Cy Young frontrunner, close out the four-game set.
The Rays, however, are set to throw a few of their best with Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, Ian Seymour and Freddy Peralta slotted for the highly-anticipated matchup.
While they’re not officially out of the division race yet, the likeliest scenario is that the Yankees end up hosting Boston in the Wild Card round for the second straight year. It is not where the team wants to end up after finishing 2025 with the same record as the Blue Jays but losing the season series tiebreaker, but Bellinger remained confident that the Yankees can still win their first title since 2009.
“Obviously, the goal is to win the division, rest your guys, get those extra off days,” he said. “That’s always goal No. 1. Ultimately, World Series champions have come out of the Wild Card.”