Yankees Punch Ticket to Postseason

 It was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but the New York Yankees are going to the playoffs. 

In a season that was shorted to 60 games due to COVID-19, and in a year where the Yankees, at one point, lost 15 of 20 before rattling off 10 straight wins, the Yankees are back in serious October baseball. 

The Bombers punched their ticket to the postseason thanks to the Seattle Mariners 7-4 loss to the San Diego Padres. With the win, the Padres also clinched a spot in the playoffs in the National League. 

The Yankees' 10-game winning streak did end Sunday in a 10-2 loss to the Red Sox, but it didn't matter by Sunday night. 

The questions now facing the Yankees are 1) seeding, 2) pitching, and 3) lineup consistency. Two and three have been issues all year, as well as health. 

The Yankees are 3.5 back of Tampa for the AL East title, but with a week to go, it's not likely they will catch them. That makes seeding important. The Yanks are just a game back of the Minnesota Twins for the fourth seed in the playoffs, and two games ahead of the Cleveland Indians for the fifth seed. 

Since the postseason will be regulated to a bubble in Texas and California, home field won't necessarily play a factor, but the Yankees would love to have the final turn at bat in their first round series. 

Should they meet, the Yankees have traditionally owned the Twins in the playoffs, including sweeping them out of the postseason last year, and knocking them out of the wild card game in 2017. 

 Of course pitching, health and consistency matters. The Yankees pitching is a big question mark. Outside of Gerrit Cole, there are lingering questions about the consistency of guys like Mashairo Tanaka, JA Happ and Jordan Montgomery. The Yankees will not have James Paxton, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury. 

As for the lineup, the Yanks have seven players who have struggled to hit over .220 this year, including catcher Gary Sanchez who is only batting .152 this season. Add the fact that this team just recently got back Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge -- there is reason for concern this year. This team is capable of winning it all. It is also capable of getting knocked out early. 

Keep in mind the wild card round this year is a best-of-three; so one loss and it's desperation time in Game 2.