MLB fans were hoping for madness Sunday.
There was a possibility of a four-way tie between the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Seattle Mariners.
Alas, it will be Yankees-Red Sox in this year’s American League Wild Card Game.
IT'S YANKEES VS. RED SOX IN A BLOCKBUSTER AL WILD CARD GAME THIS TUESDAY‼️
WINNER-TAKE-ALL 🍿 pic.twitter.com/V2uiH4T8rt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 3, 2021
So how did Sunday unfold?
Favorites Take Care Of Business
The Yankees made it interesting, but took home a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in walk-off fashion.
Aaron Judge was the hero on a day when six pitchers took the mound for the Yankees.
Aaron Boone was not messing around and this was a surprising rebound after a blowout loss Saturday.
Rays fans are not going to be too worried, however, there is no denying the Yankees were impressive in this must-win.
The Red Sox took the dramatic approach by falling behind 5-1, only to pick up a 7-5 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Rafael Devers was the hero with the go-ahead two-run blast in the top of the ninth.
RAFAEL DEVERS GIVES BOSTON THE LEAD 🤯
The Red Sox are three outs away from the postseason 👀
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/u8liTFnv5r
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 3, 2021
While Red Sox and Yankees fans were elated, two other MLB fanbases went home in disappointment.
Outside Looking In
The Toronto Blue Jays did what they had to do Sunday with a 12-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
That gave Toronto the sweep and turned the attention to the scoreboard.
Fans thus had to go through the brutal experience of seeing the 0-0 Yankees-Rays score turn into a 1-0 final, while the Red Sox broke their own tie late as well.
But the Blue Jays and their fans should not feel bad about this team.
This young bunch proved they are ready to compete and pulled off this 91-71 season even though they only returned home to Toronto later in the season.
The Blue Jays have a resilient bunch filled with top talent and one of the best players in baseball in Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
As long as he is leading the way, they are in great hands.
Then there are the Seattle Mariners.
That club surged up the MLB standings as the season neared its end and fell just short Sunday, falling to the Los Angeles Angels.
That gave the Mariners a 90-72 record for the year.
The Mariners began the month of September at 71-62 and just kept competing all the way until the end.
Did anyone expect the Mariners to finish second in the AL West with only a five-game deficit?
They had to be perfect near the end of the year to reach the playoffs and nearly were, but still didn’t get the help they needed Sunday.
Both the Mariners and Blue Jays should be right back in this spot next year.
For now, it is the two traditional powerhouses squaring off for the right to meet the Rays.
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