ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees were in no position to celebrate when the Texas Rangers’ loss to Oakland clinched New York’s return to the postseason. Brett Gardner and his teammates were too busy blowing a five-run lead over the Angels at the time.
A ninth-inning rally keyed by a player with no postseason resume made certain the Yankees didn’t back through a door that was slammed in their faces last fall.
Gardner singled, stole second base on a pitchout and scored the tiebreaking run on Alex Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly in the ninth, and the Yankees secured their 14th playoff appearance in 15 seasons Tuesday night with a 6-5 victory over Los Angeles.
Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs before Mariano Rivera earned his 41st save for the Yankees, who were guaranteed a return to the postseason about 55 minutes before the last out in Anaheim when the Athletics finished Texas 9-1.
“You always want to get something like this by shaking hands at the end of it,” Rodriguez said. “(No big) celebration, just shaking hands with the guys and giving a few hugs. It feels good to be in, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
Derek Jeter and his teammates are back in the postseason after staying home last fall in manager Joe Girardi’s debut campaign. The Yankees won 17 playoff series and four World Series titles in a 13-year span after 1994, but New York hasn’t won a championship since 2000 or even a playoff series since the 2004 division series, losing four straight.
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