Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees took a winding route into the AL wild-card game, squeezing in on the final day of a tumultuous season.

Every year, the day after the regular season can be dicey for managers whose teams didn’t do so well.

The New York Yankees put All-Star infielder DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day injured list with a sports hernia ahead of their scheduled regular-season finale against the Tampa B...