Yankees get some ALDS deja vu with another divisional rival with the hope of a different outcome

In the midst of a joyous but not raucous celebration in a Yankees clubhouse that was drenched but not flooding, Cody Bellinger provided perspective about what the club had done and had not done. “We were here last year,” the veteran outfielder said after his three-run home run Wednesday added some late thunder in a sweep of the Red Sox in the wild-card series.“We were at this [upcoming] series.”  Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees.

Bellinger did not finish the sentence, but this upcoming series is when their run ended. The location and opponent will be different, but the Yankees’ next series mirrors the hurdle they could not climb over last year: an ALDS matchup with an AL East champion whom the Yankees could not catch and is built on a contact-hitting approach and also flourishes at home. Playing the role of the Blue Jays this year are the Rays, whom the Yankees did not solve in the regular season. Will the 2026 Yankees be any different than the 2025 version? Beginning Saturday in St.Petersburg, Fla., they will find out. “We have, hopefully, a long month in front of us,” manager Aaron Boone said.

“And we know the next obstacle is a really challenging one with the Rays, but I love how [we are] playing the game.” The Yankees are thriving on the backs of a series of aces — Cam Schlittler and Max Fried combined for 12 ¹/₃, one-run, five-hit, 16-strikeout innings against Boston, thus not even requiring Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón to pitch — as well as an offense that, for two games at least, collectively stepped up without Aaron Judge. But they only played Tuesday and Wednesday because the league-best Rays seized control of the division June 28 and never really were threatened afterward, finishing 4 ½ games clear of the Yankees.  Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+....