If you want to argue that the Yankees-Rays showdown should be a seven-game series in the ALCS instead of a five-game series in the ALDS, sure, go ahead.
But after the Yankees spent the final few months of the regular season trying to chase down the Rays for the AL East, to no avail, it sure does seem fitting that they’ll meet again in October with everything on the line.
And while it has shades of last year, when the Yankees also beat the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series before getting boat-raced by the division-winning Blue Jays in the ALDS, Aaron Boone’s club is in an eminently better position this time around. And while that guarantees them nothing, the Yankees at least have to be feeling good about their chances entering the matchup with the Rays, whether or not Aaron Judge is able to return for it.
“I think we were set up good last year, we just didn’t play good baseball,” Cam Schlittler said during the champagne-and-beer celebration inside the Yankees clubhouse late Wednesday night. “Toronto just kind of beat the s–t out of us. So we have the opportunity to go in there [Tropicana Field] and take two at their place, and we know there’s going to be a lot of Yankees fans there.”
