The Yankees Seem Destined For A Wild Card Game

The Yankees won 13 games in a row last week, and even after all that, they still sat four games behind the first place Tampa Bay Rays. They followed up by losing their final two games in Oakland, and then lost again last night. They are now seven back in the division.

The Rays simply refuse to lose, and that should help the Yankees accept a grim reality: they're headed for another wild card sweatfest that are only enjoyable for fans without a horse in the race. Not exactly enjoyable for a team with a $200 million payroll...

This isn't the end of the world, as teams have won World Series titles out of wild card opportunities. It's just that the Yankees probably feel the way Pirates fans felt in the early 2010s. Potential wild card exits are a miserable ending for any team that wins more than 90 games in the regular season, which the Yankees are now likely to do. They won 13 games in a row for the first time since 1961, and their reward will probably be a matchup with Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox, a hot Oakland Athletics team led by recent acquisition Starling Marte, or a young Seattle Mariners team. Tough luck.

A series at home against the Mariners is the best case scenario at this point, unless the Rays collapse. Given Rays rookie Wander Franco has reached base in 30 straight games and has never let his squad lose -- that's not happening. So it's time to prepare ourselves for the cheek-clenching moment that will be a wild card playoff game at Yankee Stadium. Whether they love or hate the Yankees, all baseball fans will be watching.