The New York Yankees outlasted the Kansas City Royals 3-1 in Game 4 of the American League Divisional Series on Thursday night. They took the best-of-five series 3-1 and advanced to the AL Championship Series.
New York will now await the winner of Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 5 between Detroit and Cleveland. Both have played New York once in the ALCS before; New York beat Cleveland in 1998 and fell to Detroit in 2012.
It will be the Yankees’ 19th ALCS appearance in franchise history, the most by any team in MLB history. New York becomes one of two teams to have appeared in at least one ALCS in every decade since the series’ inception in 1969.
The Yankees will be looking to win their first AL pennant and make their first World Series appearance since 2009, the last time they lifted the Commissioners’ Trophy. New York has come up short in its last five attempts in the ALCS.
Until the conclusion of the 2019 postseason, the Yankees had an incredible streak of appearing in at least one World Series in every decade since 1921.
In 59 postseason appearances, New York has appeared in the World Series a mind-boggling 40 times (68 percent) and won it a record 27 times (46 percent).
The 2024 ALCS will be the first since 2016 to not feature the Houston Astros, a snapped seven-year AL record previously held by the Oakland Athletics (five straight from 1971-75).