Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning Tuesday, gave up exactly one hit, and closed it out with 11 strikeouts as the Rays beat the Yankees 6-1 to clinch the AL East. That is not a division title, that is a mugging with a receipt. New York had actually taken the doubleheader opener behind Carlos Rodon's three-hit shutout, so the Yankees flew home from Tampa Bay having won a game and lost a division in the same 24 hours, which is the kind of week that ends with someone throwing a clipboard. They still clinched their third straight postseason berth, Aaron Judge missing more than three months and all, so nobody in the Bronx should be checking out of the hotel yet.

Here is the number that should bother the sport more than the standings: Tampa Bay is doing this with a payroll that ranks near the bottom of the league, in a stadium so decrepit the team has spent a decade angling for a new one in St. Petersburg while the Yankees spend like the AL East is a subscription service. The Rays keep winning the division on player development and pitching depth, not on record checks, and the Yankees keep making the tournament anyway because $300 million buys you a floor even on a bad week. Both things are true. Only one of them is sustainable for the other 28 teams watching.