Embarrassing Game 162 Rays lineup almost guarantees Yankees' playoff fate

A proud team doesn't lay down and die against an AL East rival, even with nothing to play for - unless, of course, that "proud team" can screw the New York Yankees by laying down and dying. In that case, they'll receive cheers for surrendering.

The Yankees' AL East hopes, even with the race tied entering the weekend, remained slim. In order to secure the division title, they'd probably have to sweep the Baltimore Orioles while hoping for one slimy little Toronto Blue Jays loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. This was the fault of their own malfeasance. They blew a six-run lead in Miami. They blew a four-run, ninth-inning lead to these very same Rays. They played DJ LeMahieu regularly, shifting Jazz Chisholm Jr. to third base. They had no one to blame but themselves.

And yet ... as of Sunday afternoon, we can definitely find some room in our hearts to blame the Rays as well.

Tampa manager Kevin Cash is resting several key starters for Game 162 with technically nothing to play for. He'll probably claim this is all part of the evaluation process if pressed, pretending that one look at Hunter Feduccia and Bob Seymour might make all the difference.

Still ... that's no Brandon Lowe, no Yandy Diaz, and no Chandler Simpson. You're telling me their spark plug, batting champion, and All-Star would rather just ... get a head start on the offseason? No interest in factoring into the playoff race? Spare me.

Yankees rival Tampa Bay Rays rest several key starters ahead of season finale against Toronto Blue Jays, might tilt AL East race

We give you a stadium for a whole year, and this is how you repay us? Some friends.

Again, when the Jays won on both Friday and Saturday, they made the Yankees' potential AL East clinch far more difficult. There was only one possible opportunity for a slipup, and merely holding serve wouldn't help the tiebreaker. The Yankees required mismatched wins and losses that fell in the proper column.

Still, though ... you'd like to think the Rays are as invested in competition as the upstart Orioles, who shuffled Trevor Rogers into this series just to annoy the Yankees (as they should've!). When push comes to shove, it seems the rest of the division does take sides against New York. Good to know.