The wild card is the prize nobody wants, until there is no other choice. Acknowledging its presence — without absolutely having to — is all but forbidden in baseball. Never mind that two wild-card teams met in the last World Series.
Joe Girardi was not in total denial, anyway, on Sunday morning. Girardi, the Yankees’ manager, acknowledged that the game against the Toronto Blue Jays would be “extremely important.” His team would be swept in a four-game series with another loss.
“We need to keep our foot on the gas and do everything we can to win the division,” Girardi said.