BALTIMORE -- This was the back door of back doors.
But the Yankees, after their no-show of a weekend in Baltimore, will happily take it and try to regroup in time for Tuesday's AL wild-card playoff game at the Stadium, one in which their ace, Masahiro Tanaka, will take the mound against the Astros.
And it will be there only because the Diamondbacks did the Yankees a huge favor with their victory over the Astros in Phoenix.
Regardless, the Yankees (88-74) enter the postseason an utter mess, having lost six of seven, including Sunday's 9-4 loss the Orioles in front of 33,224 at Camden Yards that completed a Baltimore sweep.