After a wild ending to a wild game in a wild season, the Yankees are going to the AL wild-card game.
Aaron Judge’s run-scoring infield single off Andrew Kittredge scored pinch-runner Tyler Wade from third with one out in the bottom of the ninth for the game’s only run in a 1-0 victory over the Rays in Game 162 on Sunday in The Bronx.
And with the Red Sox coming back to beat the Nationals shortly after the Yankees game ended, the Yankees will head to play their rivals in the wild-card game at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.
“It’s been a crazy, wild, tough year,’’ Aaron Boone said. “It’s fitting for it to come down to the last day to get in. … It hasn’t always been perfect. We’re ready to take our shot and feel like we can beat anyone when we’re at our best.”
Rougned Odor started the winning rally with a leadoff single off Josh Fleming. Odor was replaced by Wade, who moved to second on Gleyber Torres’ fly ball to the warning track in center.
Anthony Rizzo singled to right but Wade slammed on the brakes as the throw went home, which allowed Rizzo to get to second.
The Rays went to Kittredge to face Judge, who hit a hard grounder by Kittredge that scored Wade from third, beating the throw from second baseman Brandon Lowe, setting off a celebration in front of 40,409 at Yankee Stadium.
“Just put something in play,’’ Judge said of his mindset on his first career walk-off hit. “That’s all I had to do.”
It’s the Yankees’ fifth straight season in the playoffs — and they needed a victory to secure their spot, since the surging Blue Jays beat Baltimore again to fall one game short of forcing a play-in game.
And as Boone noted, it didn’t come easily, as the Yankees were without DJ LeMahieu, placed on the injured list with a sports hernia prior to Sunday’s game, and called on Jameson Taillon to start with a partially torn right ankle tendon.
Taillon was terrific for 3 ¹/₃ innings before five relievers followed to combine for the shutout.
The right-hander had runners on the corners in the third and one out for Randy Arozarena. Taillon got Arozarena on a check swing for the second out. And rookie sensation Wander Franco flied to left to keep the game scoreless.
Taillon got Nelson Cruz to start the fourth before the Yankees turned to left-hander Wandy Peralta to face lefty-swinging Austin Meadows.
Meadows hit a chopper down the third-base line and with the Yankees shifted to the right, it went for a double, but with runners on second and third, Joey Wendle hit a grounder to the right side, where Torres made a fine stop to his left for the final out.
The Yankees’ offense didn’t get a hit off Michael Wacha until the fourth.
Clay Holmes retired Franco and Nelson Cruz to start the sixth before giving way to Chad Green.
Meadows hit a pop-up near the third-base dugout and Gio Urshela sprinted over from shortstop at full speed, made a spectacular catch for the third out — then tumbled hard into the Rays’ dugout.
Urshela stayed in the dugout for several minutes, tended to by Yankee trainers, before limping back across the field. He stayed in the game and grounded out in the eighth before being replaced by Andrew Velazquez at short in the top of the ninth.
Green allowed a leadoff double to Ji-man Choi in the seventh.
The right-hander got Mike Zunino swinging for the first out. Wendle drilled a liner to right that Judge caught, but Kiermaier walked to extend the inning and Jonathan Loaisiga came on.
Lowe popped out against Loaisiga to keep the game scoreless.
Arozarena reached on a dribbler to lead off the top of the eighth. He swiped second and moved to third on a fly ball to left that Gallo caught flat-footed.
With the go-ahead runner on third, Loaisiga responded by striking out Cruz and got Meadows to fly to right.
Aroldis Chapman got Choi and Zunino in the ninth, but walked Wendle. Wendle stole second with pinch-hitter Manuel Margot at the plate, but Chapman struck him out.
“It took us a while to get going, but we got a spot in the playoffs,’’ Judge said. “All you’ve got to do is get in.”
“We have an opportunity to get hot,’’ Green said. “It seems like to win a World Series, you’ve got to get hot at the right time. There’s no better time than now.”
Judge added: “The ultimate goal is not to get in. Now, the season begins. All that other stuff, the 162 [games], were spring training. Now we get to the regular season and get this thing rolling.”