MINNEAPOLIS -- Aaron Judge hit his first home run since May 24 as the New York Yankees clinched their record 61st postseason berth and ninth in 10 years Monday night.
Spencer Jones was batting with two outs in the eighth inning against Minnesota when Toronto lost to Detroit, assuring the Yankees of at least an American League wild-card berth. New York went on to beat the Twins 8-3.
Judge, who returned last week after missing more than three months because of a fractured rib, hit a three-run homer off A.J. Minter earlier in the six-run eighth to give the Yankees a 7-2 lead. Before the homer, the Yankees' captain had been 3-for-20 with 11 strikeouts since returning.
New York is 3ý games behind AL East leader Tampa Bay, which clinched a postseason berth Friday.
The Yankees are seeking their first World Series title since 2009.
"You work very hard to get that opportunity to go to the postseason," manager Aaron Boone said Monday afternoon.
Eighteen Yankees have landed on the injured list, including second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. last week because of a sprained right thumb. Judge, a three-time AL MVP, missed 84 games because of a right rib stress fracture.
New York entered Monday 40-24 in games with Judge, averaging 5.17 runs per game, and hitting .243 with 86 home runs. Without him, the Yankees were 46-39, averaging 3.93 runs per game while hitting .228 with 107 home runs.
"I've actually been pleased," Boone said. "Even right away, I felt like this looked better than I anticipated. I feel like he just missed a handful of pitches, but I feel like for the most part, like swinging at the right pitches, taking pitches that he should, not chasing a lot. I think it's just a matter of that last level of fine-tuning, that we know he'll get to."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.