Masahiro Tanaka got through five innings Wednesday night against the Red Sox, the Yankees were eliminated from what was left of the AL East race, and they missed a chance to clinch an AL wild-card spot.
The AL East title slipped through the Yankees’ hands a while ago and eventually, barring an epic collapse, they will get one of the two wild-card tickets.
That leaves Tanaka’s outing as the feel-good story of the night and has the Yankees’ fingers firmly crossed the staff ace will be able to start Tuesday’s wild-card game against an opponent to be determined.