Yankees clinch playoff spot with walk-off win, close gap in AL East - ESPN

NEW YORK — José Caballero, a Yankee for all of 54 days, proudly carried a championship belt — given to the player of the game after every New York victory — around his left shoulder as alcohol-soaked chaos raged around him in the home clubhouse Tuesday night.

Acquired at the trade deadline to provide a versatile spark off the bench, the utility infielder fulfilled his duties to the max for the distinction: An inning after entering the game as a pinch-runner, Caballero swatted a two-out, walk-off single on the ninth pitch of his at-bat to lift the Yankees to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox and clinch the 60th postseason berth in franchise history.

«This is the best time to have the belt,» Caballero said, «and I'm not letting it go.»

Coupled with the Toronto Blue Jays' loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees moved within a game of first place in the American League East with five games remaining. Toronto, however, holds the tiebreaker over New York. The Yankees would have to surpass the Blue Jays in the standings by the end of Sunday to claim their 22nd division title and earn a bye into the ALDS to begin their pursuit of a second consecutive AL pennant after falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last season.

«This October we're coming to prove a point,» Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said.

For now, the Yankees are guaranteed their eighth postseason appearance over the past nine years and their 26th trip in the 32 seasons since the playoffs were expanded to eight teams in 1994. Their magic number to clinch the top AL wild card spot — and guarantee home-field advantage in a three-game wild-card series — is three. The Yankees have not played in a wild-card series since it was first