Winning the Division Does Matter

The result of last night's game at Yankee Stadium II was not in doubt for long. In the top of the 2nd inning, Max Fried gave up a single, a single that advanced the previous runner to 3rd base, and a sacrifice fly, to give the Chicago White Sox a 1-0 lead. Other than that, Fried cruised through 7 innings, to advance to 19-5. He won't get another regular-season start, to advance to 20 wins. But if he doesn't get the American League's Cy Young Award, it will be highway robbery.

The Yankees came right back in the bottom of the 2nd, with a 3-run home run by Aaron Judge. In the 3rd, a triple by Ben Rice, a single by Paul Goldschmidt, and a double by Jazz Chisholm made it 5-1, and the White Sox never seriously threatened again.

In the 8th, Trent Grisham and Judge hit back-to-back home runs. Judge now had 51 on the season, making him only the 2nd Yankee to have 4 seasons of 50 or more homers, after Babe Ruth. Only 2 other players have done it, and they cheated: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Devin Williams pitched a perfect 8th. (Fine, trust him with a 4-run lead in the 8th, but not with a smaller lead than that, and with no lead in the 9th.) Paul Blackburn pitched a scoreless 9th. Yankees 8, White Sox 1.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-1. The Yankees and the Jays are now tied for 1st in the American League Eastern Division, although the Jays hold the 1st tiebreaker. There are 4 games left. The Division title is still very much available.

Tonight, the series with the ChiSox concludes, with Carlos Rodón starting against Davis Martin. Then the Baltimore Orioles come into The Bronx, while the Jays host the Tampa Bay Rays. Surely, we can make up 1 of those last 4 games, without losing any ground.

Because it does matter. Since the Wild Card Era began in 1994:

* The Yankees have won the Division 16 times. They went on to win the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009; win the Pennant but lose the World Series in 2001, 2003 and 2004; win the AL Division Series but lose the AL Championship Series in 2004, 2012, 2019, 2022; and lose the ALDS in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2011. So: 16 times, 12 times at least in the ALCS, 8 Pennants and 5 World Championships.

* The Yankees have won a Wild Card berth 10 times. They went on to lose in the ALCS in 2010, 2017 and 2019; in the ALDS in 1995, 1997, 2007, 2018, 2020; and in the AL Wild Card Round in 2015, 2021. So, 10 times, 5 times at least in the ALDS, and 3 times in the ALCS, but no Pennants.

* And the Yankees have missed the Playoffs completely 5 times: In 1994 (due to the strike, although they were in 1st place at the time), 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2023.

So:

* In ALDS, when the Yankees win the Division, they are 12-4; when they don't, they are 3-5.

* In ALCS, when the Yankees win the Division, they are 8-4; when they don't, they are 0-3.

So, since we want to win the Pennant and the World Series, then, previous performance does matter. Winning the Division does matter.