ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When the Yankees beat the Rays Monday night, it turned out they assured a wild-card matchup against the A’s on Oct. 3.
But a pair of veterans of wild-card games said Tuesday that knowing their opponent before the end of the regular season means nothing and won’t impact their preparation for the game.
“Not at all,’’ said Andrew McCutchen, who played in three straight wild-card games with the Pirates from 2013-15. “There’s too much baseball to be played to be thinking about that. We’ve still got to take care of business here.’’
That business is making sure the one-game playoff is played at Yankee Stadium and not on the road.