NEW YORK \u2014 The New York Yankees need the Toronto Blue Jays to lose Sunday to have a chance at winning the American League East and the fruits that come with it \u2014 particularly skipping the wild-card round and five days of rest. The teams will go into the day tied for first place at 93-68, but the Blue Jays have the tiebreaker, having beaten the Yankees 8-5 in the season series.<\/p>\n
If the Blue Jays win their game against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Rogers Centre, the Yankees will take the No. 4 seed and host the three-game wild-card starting Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of crazy,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said of everything coming down to the last game of the season.<\/p>\n
But the Yankees\u2019 destiny isn\u2019t totally out of their control. They also have to beat the Baltimore Orioles, who don\u2019t seem likely to roll over for them.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how they could do it:<\/p>\n
If starting pitcher Luis Gil is getting rocked early, then Boone should yank him and match up his relievers the rest of the way. The bullpen will have had plenty of rest, with all their late-inning arms resting Saturday. If Jazz Chisholm Jr. (forearm bruise) can play after getting hit with a 96-mph sinker in Saturday\u2019s win, he should be on the field. If it makes the most sense to start the lefty-hitting Jasson Dom\u00ednguez in left field against Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish, a righty, and keep Giancarlo Stanton on the bench for a midgame pinch-hitting spot, so be it.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust do what we\u2019ve been doing the past couple of days: win today,\u201d right fielder Aaron Judge said. \u201cThat\u2019s been our motto the last couple of weeks. Don\u2019t focus on what\u2019s happened in the past, just what\u2019s ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last Sunday, Bradish held the Yankees to one run over six innings, striking out nine with two walks and two hits. He got strikeouts on four pitches: curveball (three), slider (three), sinker (two) and four-seamer. He threw 91 pitches, and only four Yankees got to three-ball counts.<\/p>\n
The Yankees won the game 7-1 thanks to Baltimore\u2019s 10th-inning meltdown. It wasn\u2019t an anomaly for Bradish, who has a 2.25 ERA through five starts this season after returning from Tommy John surgery. He\u2019s given up just one run in each of his last three outings.<\/p>\n
\nSchlitt’s Creek. @Cam32Schlittler | #RepBX pic.twitter.com\/31efug4ARW<\/p>\n
\u2014 New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 27, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hope for the old Luis Gil<\/h2>\n
Gil was the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year. He needs to pitch like that version of himself. His average fastball is down a full tick (95.3 mph in 2025 vs. 96.6 mph in 2024). His strikeouts are way down (6.8 K\/9 in 2025 vs. 10.1 K\/9 in 2024). And he\u2019s getting much less swing-and-miss all around, but particularly on his fastball and changeup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think that is something that, when you look at it, like, is this sustainable?\u201d Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake told The Athletic\u2019s Chris Kirschner earlier this week. \u201cI think it\u2019s probably not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gil has all but lost his chance to be the Yankees\u2019 third starter in the playoffs to hotshot rookie Cam Schlittler, who dominated the O\u2019s for seven innings Saturday. But it\u2019s not too late for Gil to contribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he\u2019ll walk out there with a lot of confidence and not afraid of the moment,\u201d Boone said.<\/p>\n
Get the crowd into it<\/h2>\n
The O\u2019s have nothing to play for. The Yankees should be amped up. Yankee Stadium should be packed for the final regular-season game of the year. Players should be feeding off the energy of the Bleacher Creatures, and vice versa.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those of us and you guys and fans that live and die with their teams all summer long,\u201d Boone said, \u201cit should make for an exciting day.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo of Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan McMahon: Ishika Samant \/ Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Yankees have to beat the Baltimore Orioles, who don’t seem likely to make it easy for them. Here’s how they could do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":99576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-99568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-new-york-yankees"],"yoast_head":"\n
Yankees\u2019 4 keys to winning Game 162 and keeping AL East dream alive - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99568\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees\u2019 4 keys to winning Game 162 and keeping AL East dream alive - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Yankees have to beat the Baltimore Orioles, who don't seem likely to make it easy for them. 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