Carlos Rodón's stellar outing helps Yankees blank Rays, secure home-field advantage in wild-card round

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 in the first game of a Tuesday doubleheader to secure the American League's No. 4 seed and home-field advantage in the wild-card round .

Cody Bellinger 's two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning was all the Yankees needed offensively.

Carlos Rodón went eight innings, allowed three hits and struck out eight batters, including the 1,500th of his career.

After clinching a playoff spot last week, the Yankees still have a (long) shot at the AL East title. With six games to play in the regular season, they now sit five games behind the Rays. But Tampa needs just one win over their final six games to secure their fifth division crown.

With the Yankees knowing they are at least the top AL wild-card team, it's looking likely they will face the Boston Red Sox in the opening round for the second-straight postseason.

New York won the 2025 wild-card matchup between the division rivals two games to one.

As they await to learn who their playoff opponent will be, it remains to be seen when Aaron Judge will return. The Yankees slugger was placed on the injured list last week with a calf strain and manager Aaron Boone said on Tuesday they are not planning on having Judge available when the playoffs begin.

The best-of-three AL wild-card series is scheduled is begin Tuesday, Sept. 29.