The Rays Took the East and October in the Bronx

Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the seventh and struck out 11 as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 6-1 to clinch the AL East. The nightcap of a day-night doubleheader on Sept. 22 at Yankee Stadium was Tampa Bay’s fifth division title and its first since 2021.

The Rays are 96-61. They locked the No. 1 seed in the AL and home field through the ALCS at Tropicana Field, the dome they reopened in April. The Yankees fell to 90-67, six games back with five to play, and into a wild-card series they will host without Aaron Judge.

Nine Outs From a Franchise No-Hitter

Rasmussen was nine outs from joining Matt Garza as the only pitcher in club history to throw a no-hitter when Heliot Ramos doubled to left on his 97th pitch. Garza’s no-hitter came against Detroit at Tropicana Field on July 26, 2010. Rasmussen got the next two outs, then walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a full count. Kevin Kelly took over and allowed an RBI single to rookie George Lombard Jr. before retiring Austin Wells.

The right-hander finished 6 2/3 innings with one hit, one earned run, three walks and 11 strikeouts. He threw a career-high 114 pitches, 72 for strikes, and first-pitch strikes to 17 of 24 hitters. It was his fourth career double-digit strikeout game and the fourth time this year he has allowed one hit. Cam Booser and Bryan Baker each threw a scoreless inning to finish a three-hitter, New York’s 13th game this season with three hits or fewer.

RASMUSSEN’S NIGHT AND SEASON

• The start: 6 2/3 innings, one hit, one earned run, three walks, 11 strikeouts, 114 pitches.
• The season: He is 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 172 innings, with 174 strikeouts and a 0.91 WHIP over 30 starts.
• The ranks: Second in the AL in wins, fourth in ERA, second in WHIP, 10th in strikeouts.
• The history: Elbow surgery in 2023, two-time All-Star, Opening Day starter, AL Pitcher of the Month in June.

Manager Kevin Cash had seen this version of him often enough that the near no-hitter did not read as a surprise.

Pretty incredible. Ras set the tone tonight, but it’s been all season long. Our starting pitching, our defense, our timely hitting has come through for us. That’s why we’re doing this and celebrating.

Kevin Cash, Rays manager, Yankee Stadium

Cash added that Rasmussen is “so tunnel-visioned when he gets on the mound” that the building and the opponent stop mattering. Rasmussen, who told Lauren Shehadi the year “took an army,” put the same night in plainer terms. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start in April but to play as we have since the beginning of May, this group’s different,” he said. “We’re excited to celebrate, we know this is not the finish line.”

October Now Runs Through Tropicana Field

The East title is the shirt they pulled on in the Bronx. The seed is what changes October. Tampa Bay opens the best-of-five AL Division Series on Oct. 3 at Tropicana Field and will have home field through the ALCS. Milwaukee still holds the majors’ best record, so World Series home field is not Tampa Bay’s yet. In the American League, the road now runs through St. Petersburg.

That is a different building than the one they left in 2024. Hurricane Milton tore the Trop’s roof in October 2024, and the 2025 home schedule was played at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring park in Tampa. The Rays went back inside on April 6, 2026, sold out the opener against the Chicago Cubs, and closed the regular-season home book at 55-26, a franchise record for wins at the Trop. Three of the 57 home wins in 2008 came at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, which is why 55 this year sits alone.

Jonny DeLuca said the club missed the place after the year outdoors. Chandler Simpson called it a fit for a “scrappy, get-our-hands-dirty type of team.” Visitors still have to deal with the turf, the catwalks and a roof other clubs never wanted. The Rays will now make October opponents deal with it in games that decide a pennant.

WHAT THE NO. 1 AL SEED GETS

1. A first-round bye: No wild-card series, and extra rest while four other clubs play best-of-three sets.
2. ALDS at home: The Division Series starts Oct. 3 at Tropicana Field, not on the road.
3. Home through the ALCS: Every American League round after the bye is stacked toward St. Petersburg.
4. The likely draw: The winner of the Yankees-Red Sox wild-card series, if that bracket holds, would have to come to the Trop.

Starter Griffin Jax said before the New York trip that the homestand’s job was to “put ourselves in a good place going into New York, make it a little bit easier.” They did that, then made it official in the other club’s park.

What the Yankees Lost in the Nightcap

New York still won the afternoon. Carlos Rodón threw eight innings, three hits, no walks and eight strikeouts in a 2-0 shutout, the makeup of a May 23 postponement, and Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer 382 feet to right in the fourth, his 17th of the year. Rodón’s last strikeout was the 1,500th of his career. Aaron Boone’s club delayed the toast for a few hours and, with a Red Sox loss, locked the top wild-card spot.

That is the leftover prize. The Yankees will host the Wild Card Series begins Sept. 29 against Boston, 84-73 and 12 games back in the East, with a possible Game 3 on Oct. 1. If they get through that, the Division Series would be on the road against the club that just sprayed champagne in their visitors’ clubhouse.

TUESDAY AT YANKEE STADIUM

Boone, before first pitch, had already told reporters he is planning on Judge sitting out the wild-card round. Judge has played 66 games this season. A right rib fracture from an April 26 dive in Houston cost him 99 days. He came back Sept. 8 without a rehab assignment, went 4-for-23 with 13 strikeouts in seven games, then strained his right calf in Minnesota on Sept. 16. Boone called it a moderate strain. Judge took a plasma injection on Sept. 21 and was shut down from activity. “We’re planning on him not being a part of that,” Boone said, while adding he was not ruling a return out.

After the nightcap, Boone did not dress up the standing. “Hopefully, we get another crack at them in the next couple weeks. They’ve certainly earned the division,” he said. Rasmussen, still in the building, offered the same thought from the other clubhouse: “Kudos to these guys, there’s a chance we’re seeing them here in about a week.” If that rematch happens, it will not be here. It will be under the roof New York’s spring home replaced for a year.

Zero Opening Day Votes, Then 96 Wins

A writers’ poll on Opening Day gave the Rays zero votes to win the East. Boston took 42 percent, the Yankees 33 percent, Toronto 25 percent. Tampa Bay had finished fourth in each of the past two seasons, including a 77-85 year spent outdoors at Steinbrenner Field, and the projection systems lined up behind that memory. Nick Martinez said the expectation around the division was “New York, Boston and Toronto at the top.”

President of baseball operations Erik Neander put the slight in one sentence. “Four teams got all the attention in this division, and they’re four really good teams, right?” he said after the clinch. The fifth team spent 128 days in first place, including 88 in a row since June 27, and is 96-61 with a 41-35 road record. This is the first season under owner Patrick Zalupski. It is also the fourth time the franchise has held the AL’s best record, after 2010, 2020 and 2021.

THE LAST TWO WEEKS TO THE FLAG

1. Sept. 11, 2026: Junior Caminero hits a walk-off two-run homer against Houston, and the Rays become the first club to clinch a 2026 playoff berth.
2. Sept. 20, 2026: A 5-1 win over Boston is the 55th victory at the Trop and closes the home schedule at 95-60, 35 games over.500.
3. Sept. 22, 2026, afternoon: Rodón and Bellinger win the opener 2-0, and the magic number is still alive for a few hours.
4. Sept. 22, 2026, night: Rasmussen and Yandy Díaz finish a 6-1 win, and the East is over.

Martinez, who took the Game 1 loss at 15-5 after six innings and two runs, had said the month was a dogfight against clubs already in or still clawing. “No one really expected us to be here, so we’ve had to fight for it from the beginning of the season,” he said after the nightcap. Díaz, through interpreter Kevin Vera, kept pointing at the same thing he had named all year. “The unity and the joy that this team plays with,” he said. “This group is such a special group, and they have been the entire year.”

Walls Bunted When First Base Sat Empty

Tampa Bay never homered over Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch. The 6-1 win was 11 hits, six strikeouts, and the kind of pressure Cash has been describing since spring. Ryan Vilade’s RBI groundout in the third, after Díaz’s fly ball moved runners to second and third, made it 1-0 and was enough for a long time. Rasmussen struck out Ben Rice twice and fanned Spencer Jones to end the fourth after a walk to Bellinger.

The game broke in the seventh against Max Fried (5-5), who lasted 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits. Taylor Walls dropped a bunt single when first base was left uncovered. The inning became a three-run rally. Díaz ripped a two-run single off John Schreiber, and Ben Williamson scored with Walls sliding headfirst past Austin Wells for another run. Lombard’s single made it 4-1. Díaz added another two-run single in the ninth, his AL-leading 175th hit of 2026 and four RBI on the night, and the lead was 6-1.

Walls then ended it. He scooped Lombard’s grounder and threw to Jonathan Aranda at first. Andy Freed’s call went out on the club radio as the Rays, in new gray road jerseys with “Tampa Bay” across the chest, poured onto the infield, then covered those jerseys with blue AL East champs shirts.

"WALLS HAS IT, NOW HIS THROW TO FIRST, IN TIME! AND THE TAMPA BAY RAYS, FOR THE FIFTH TIME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY, HAVE JUST CONQUERED THE AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST!@andybfreed with the call as the #Rays beat the Yankees, 6-1 to clinch the top seed in the American League playoffs! pic.twitter.com/08hOLd2Z8l

— Rays Radio (@RaysRadio) September 23, 2026

Bryan Baker’s 93 mph four-seamer had already been put in play, 74.5 mph off the bat, 61 feet. The throw beat it. Walls called the night what it was. “For us to go out there and take care of business and win the division is special,” he said. Cash told the group they want to do this three more times next month. Díaz, again through Vera, said the World Series toast is the one that counts.

Five Division Flags After a Year Away

The franchise entered the league in 1998. The first winning season and first East title arrived together in 2008. Another flag went up in 2010. The pandemic-shortened 2020 club won the East and the pennant. The 2021 club won 100 games and the East again. Then came the drought, the roof, and a year as tenants in a Yankees facility.

RAYS AL EAST TITLES

A new 31,000-seat park near Raymond James Stadium is approved for 2029, with Hillsborough County’s $796 million share and Tampa’s $80 million already voted through. The lease at the Trop runs through at least 2028. For this October, the home field they earned is the one they just repaired. Ian Seymour (9-7, 4.38 ERA) is lined up against Gerrit Cole (9-9, 3.63) on Wednesday, Sept. 23, with the four-game set closing Sept. 24 before Tampa Bay goes to Philadelphia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Did the Rays and Yankees Play a Doubleheader on Sept. 22?

The opener was a makeup of a game postponed on May 23. New York won that one 2-0 behind Rodón’s eight innings, then lost the scheduled night game 6-1. The four-game series still has dates on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 at Yankee Stadium.

Who Threw the Only No-Hitter in Rays History?

Matt Garza held the Detroit Tigers hitless on July 26, 2010, at Tropicana Field. Rasmussen was nine outs from matching that game when Ramos doubled on pitch 97, and no Tampa Bay pitcher has finished a no-hitter since Garza.

When Does the 2026 American League Wild-Card Round Start?

Each best-of-three Wild Card Series is scheduled to start Sept. 29, with a possible Game 3 on Oct. 1. The four Division Series then start Oct. 3. The Yankees, as the top AL wild card, host all games of their set.

Where Will the Rays Play Home Playoff Games After 2026?

They are contracted to Tropicana Field through at least 2028. Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa have approved financing for a 31,000-seat stadium in Tampa, next to the Yankees’ spring complex and across the highway from the Buccaneers’ stadium, with an expected 2029 opening.

Seymour and Cole still have a Wednesday night game to play, and the clubs close the set on Sept. 24. If New York then beats Boston next week, the rematch Cash’s club just earned is not in the Bronx. It is Oct. 3, under the roof they spent a year without.