Tampa Bay Rays win American League East — Taipei Times

The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees 6-1 in New York, USA, in the second game of a doubleheader and clinched the MLB American League East title early. As Taipei Times reports, this is the fifth division title in the club's history.

Playoff advantage

After the victory, the Rays' record stood at 96 wins and 61 losses. The team also secured home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.

Tampa Bay was six games ahead of the Yankees, who had 90 wins and 67 losses, with five games remaining in the regular season. The Rays previously won the division title in 2021, when they won 100 games. The club also became division champion in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, as well as in 2010 and 2008.

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Rasmussen and Diaz's performance

Pitcher Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit over 6 2/3 innings, struck out 11 and threw a career-high 114 pitches, 72 of them for strikes. He was nine outs away from a no-hitter, but in the seventh inning Heliot Ramos hit a double on Rasmussen's 97th pitch.

Rasmussen then recorded two outs and walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. Reliever Kevin Kelly allowed George Lombard Jr. to hit an RBI single, then got Austin Wells to ground out.

Yandy Diaz hit a two-run single against reliever John Schreiber in the seventh inning and added another two-run single in the ninth. His 175th hit of the season was the best mark in the American League. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Yankees won 2-0 as Carlos Rodon allowed three hits over eight innings.