Air Force Professional Athletes

Griffin Jax doesn't wear a cape, but Air Force alumni might argue he deserves one.

The former Falcon — who starred at Air Force before carving out a big-league career — was front and center as the Tampa Bay Rays completed a stunning 3-game ALDS sweep of the New York Yankees on Thursday, pitching two innings and striking out four in a 4-3 Tampa Bay victory that ended New York's season.

The Jax Outing

Jax's evening was defined by one of the wilder moments of this postseason. With the Yankees down 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth and facing elimination, Anthony Volpe stepped in against Jax and appeared to launch a two-run shot to left field — a would-be tying homer that sent Yankee Stadium into delirium. But replay told a different story: a fan had reached well over the left-field wall and caught the ball over the glove of a leaping Mesa, preventing Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. from making the catch. Umpires ruled spectator interference and demoted Volpe's blast to an RBI double, keeping New York within one at 4-3.

That was as close as the Yankees would get.

Jax allowed that one earned run across his two innings of work, finishing with an ERA of 4.50 for the outing — but more importantly, he slammed the door when it mattered most, punching out four batters and keeping Tampa Bay's lead intact. Mesa, who had already homered in the game, was at the center of both the interference call and the Rays' offensive highlight reel, but Jax's arm was what protected the lead long enough for the story to have a Tampa ending.

The sweep itself is the larger headline — the Rays dispatching the Yankees in three straight is the kind of October upset that reverberates. And a two-inning, four-strikeout performance from an Air Force product in a clinching postseason game is exactly the kind of moment Colorado Springs doesn't forget.

The Rest of the Falcon Roster

Elsewhere in the league, Air Force alum Sam Kulasingam (Royals, 1B) and Jay Thomason (Twins, 3B) are both active at the MLB level, though neither factored into notable activity during this period. The spotlight belonged entirely to Jax — and he made the most of it on the biggest stage of his season.

For an academy program that doesn't recruit with the same tools as power-conference schools, producing a pitcher who delivers in an ALDS clincher is the kind of validation that tends to land in recruiting conversations for years.

Jax has his postseason moment. Air Force has its October story.

Griffin Jax gave Air Force alumni something to celebrate this week, delivering one of his sharpest outings of the 2026 season as the Tampa Bay Rays pushed deeper into AL East title contention.

The right-hander took the ball Sunday, September 20, against the Boston Red Sox and answered with five shutout innings, punching out five batters and earning his eighth win of the year as Tampa Bay rolled to a 5-1 victory. Chandler Simpson and Johnny DeLuca each drove in two runs to give Jax all the cushion he needed, but it was the Air Force product who set the tone from the first pitch. With an ERA sitting at 3.62 on the season, Jax has been exactly what a contending rotation needs late in September — a reliable arm who doesn't beat himself.

The Rays entered the week in striking distance of the AL East division title, and wins like Sunday's are precisely why Tampa Bay can dare to think banner thoughts. Jax was slated to start the series finale against Boston as well, per pregame reporting — a sign of just how much the organization trusts him in high-leverage spots down the stretch.

His Saturday outing against Philadelphia on September 26 was shorter — three innings in a 12-1 blowout — but the ERA held at 3.53, a testament to how consistent Jax has been across the full season.

On the Farm

The other Air Force name worth tracking in MLB circles is Sam Kulasingam, the 25-year-old utility man in the Kansas City Royals system. A recent Sports Illustrated profile highlighted what has defined his professional career to this point: consistency across every level he's touched. Kulasingam hasn't forced his way onto a major league roster yet, but the scouting narrative around him is one of steady, unspectacular production — exactly the profile that tends to age well in organizational depth charts.

No stats from a big-league cup of coffee to report this week, but Kulasingam's name is one Air Force fans should keep filed away as the Royals evaluate their 40-man roster ahead of the offseason.

The Bottom Line

Jax is the story, full stop. A mid-rotation starter who has quietly assembled a quality season now has eight wins, a sub-3.55 ERA, and a reputation as a go-to arm in the Rays' most important series of the year. For a program like Air Force — not exactly a traditional MLB pipeline — having a starter performing at this level in a pennant race is a legitimate point of pride. The Falcon on the mound in Tampa matters this September.