The New York Yankees trail the Tampa Bay Rays by six games with seven games left to play, but they have already punched their ticket to the postseason.
The Yankees had a very slim chance of winning the division and securing a bye, but now it looks like an extreme long shot. The Rays can clinch the division by winning just one of the four games they have remaining against the Yankees, and even if they get swept, they are in the driver's seat to win the division.
It's going to take a huge collapse by the Boston Red Sox in the final week to change the Yankees' first postseason opponent, so fans need to start planning for a best-of-three series against the Red Sox in the Bronx.
For much of the year, it's looked like this would be the matchup in the first round for the Yankees. Now, it's pretty much locked in. The Yankees will likely throw Cam Schlittler, Max Fried and Gerrit Cole, while the Red Sox have Payton Tolle, Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez lined up.
The Yankees won the season series against the Red Sox 7-7. However, that will not matter if they fold in October. The Yankees got the best of the Yankees in the Wild Card Series last year, and will be hoping to knock their rivals out of the postseason for the second consecutive year.
Even though they are going to be wild card teams, the Yankees and Red Sox have been two of the best teams in the American League this year.