Hope percolated throughout the Stadium in the early going Sunday afternoon that the Yankees might just be able to close a remarkable September run to cop a most unlikely AL East title.
Before the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the first, the scoreboard in right showed the Rays already with a 1-0 lead over the Blue Jays in Toronto.
And after Luis Gil needed just 10 pitches to get through the top of the first, the crowd of 45,004 erupted with one out in the bottom half when Ben Rice clobbered a first-pitch, 96-mph fastball 421 feet into the netting overhanging Monument Park for a 1-0 lead over the Orioles.
A victory coupled with a Toronto loss would give the Yankees not only the East crown but the No. 1 seed in the AL playoffs.
But an eighth straight victory to end the regular season was not enough.
Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first and added a two-run homer later in the game as Toronto cruised to a 13-4 win.
The Blue Jays victory rendered Rice’s tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, which helped send the Yankees to a 3-2 win, relatively meaningless.
And so the Yankees (94-68), who finished the season going 32-12 since Aug. 11, will open the postseason Tuesday night in the best-of-three wild-card round hosting the Red Sox.
Still, there was little for Yankees fans to be discouraged about from the day.
Rice, getting the start at first base, homered twice to end the season with 26. Luis Gil, though sharp at times over four innings, probably didn’t do enough to win the competition with rookie Cam Schlittler to be the starter in the third playoff game, if one is necessary. Gil, who held the Orioles hitless through the first two innings, allowed two runs on a pair of home runs, three hits and two walks over a 79-pitch outing in which he struck out two.
The bullpen, brilliant most of the month, was again on Sunday as Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver and Devin Willliams served as a bridge to closer David Bednar, the trio allowing a combined two hits over three innings.
Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.