Field Level Media
Sep 27, 2020
New York's DJ LeMahieu wrapped up the American League batting title, but the Yankees were dealt a 5-0 loss by the Miami Marlins in the regular-season finale for both teams Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees (33-27) needed a win to secure the No. 5 seed in the playoffs and a trip to Cleveland, Chicago or Minnesota for the first round. The Yankees instead got help when the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, as they avoided falling to the eighth seed and an opening-round matchup with top-seeded Tampa Bay, which won eight of 10 meetings.
The Yankees will open the postseason on Tuesday at Cleveland, the fourth seed in the AL bracket.
LeMahieu had two more hits to finish with a .364 average and easily beat out the competition. Defending AL batting champion Tim Anderson of the Chicago White Sox finished second at .322.
LeMahieu became the first player to win batting titles in both leagues, after winning the 2016 crown in 2016 for the Colorado Rockies with a .348 average.
LeMahieu became the first Yankee to win a batting title since 1998 when Bernie Williams led the AL with a .339 average, two points ahead of Mo Vaughn, then with the Boston Red Sox.
LeMahieu was not the only Yankee to win an individual title.
First baseman Luke Voit finished with 22 homers to become the first Yankee first baseman to win a home run title since Mark Teixeira in 2009.
Jazz Chisholm hit a two-run double and homered for the Marlins (31-29), who secured their first winning record since 2009 but also lost outfielder Starling Marte (ear contusion) and starting pitcher Jose Urena (hand) in the opening three innings.
Corey Dickerson had an RBI single and Brian Anderson homered for the Marlins, who finished second in the National League East and the No. 6 seed in the NL. Miami will travel to the Chicago Cubs for the first round of the playoffs.
For the third straight game, the Marlins took a 3-0 lead in the opening innings. Chisholm's two-run double made it 2-0 in the second and he scored on a base hit by Dickerson three batters later.
Anderson's 11th homer of the season came in the fifth inning and extended Miami's lead to 4-0. Chisholm's home run in the eighth, his second, made it 5-0.
After getting the lead, the Marlins lost Marte and Urena. Marte was hit on the helmet by Clarke Schmidt's 94 mph fastball in the second and Urena exited after LeMahieu's 103.9 mph liner in the third struck him on the right hand.
Urena allowed two hits in 2 1/3 innings before exiting. Daniel Castano (1-2) earned his first career win with 6 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, while giving up four hits and two walks.
Schmidt (0-1) allowed three runs on four hits in four innings for New York. He walked two and struck out four.
--Field Level Media