Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino rebound ahead of playoffs as New York Yankees top Tampa Bay Rays

Luis Severino is making his bid to be on the mound and throwing to catcher Gary Sanchez in the New York Yankees' playoff opener. Severino won his 19th game, the struggling Sanchez drove in four runs for the first time since early April and the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 on Tuesday night to keep up their push for home-field advantage in the AL wild-card game. Severino (19-8) is competing for Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ to start in the Oct. 3 winner-take-all game against Oakland. The Yankees opened a 2 1/2-game lead over the Athletics for home-field advantage.