The New York Yankees are set to face off against the Minnesota Twins tonight in the American League Wild Card game. A one game playoff to get to the ALDS will make any fan sweat their ass off, but with the Yankees heavy favorites after finishing 6 games ahead of the Twins in the wild card standings, us Yanks fans expect to win tonight and will be especially devastated if they lose.
We've got Luis Severino going up against Ervin Santana. The Yankees have owned the Twins this century, but that hardly matters. It's one game to move on or your season is donezo. It sucks but that's what you get for not winning the division. The Yankees swept the Twins in the Bronx about two weeks ago, including a win over Santana to basically cement the fact that they'd be hosting this eventual Wild Card game. Credit to the Twins though, they bounced back after that and didn't really let anyone back in the second wild card race. I'm pretty impressed at the way the Twins have played in general in the second half though. You simply can't overlook them. They've scored the most runs in the league in the second half, and they traded two pitchers at the trade deadline. They were "sellers" not "buyers." Also, you gotta tip your cap to Paul Moliter and the team for becoming the first team ever to make the playoffs the year immediately following losing 100 games. They're underdogs, but do not overlook them or else you're fucked.
That being said, the Yankees have the far superior roster and are the much better team overall. They have a dominant starting pitcher going tonight, they've scored the second most runs in baseball this year, and they have the deep and dominant bullpen to wrap up games. They have the blueprint to be successful in the postseason. There's something about this team that makes me believe that won't royally fuck up tonight and they'll win the game they're supposed to. A lineup boasting Judge, Sanchez, Didi, Castro, Bird, and Gardner is scary for an opposing pitcher. This team makes pitchers WORK too. They will take pitches and foul off pitches and battle. I'm pretty confident in this year's Yankees. It may be stupid considering the recent Yankees teams, but I just do. Obviously given the way some of the losses this year have gone, I could totally see the Yankees losing this game 2-1 or 3-2 but I think they got this shit.
Prediction: I think the Yankees take this one 4-2. Santana is good enough to not get blown out of the water by the Yankees high scoring offense, but ultimately Severino and the Yankees bullpen are just better. You never know when someone will just totally suck but Severino just has a big game attitude about him. I don't care that he's never pitched in a playoff game. A few weeks ago he went up against Chris Sale on Sunday Night Baseball and outdueled the absolute shit outta the guy. You think a September start against Boston and Chris Sale on Sunday night to try and close the gap in the division isn't a playoff type start? Fuck outta here, he's got the attitude to go out and dominate tonight. Can't wait to watch him go to work. I say 6 innings, 1 run, 8 Ks for Sevy realistically. But if he pitches a perfect game like I predicted on twitter earlier today then that is my official prediction.
Here are the lineups for both squads:
NOW LET'S FUCKING GO YANKEES!
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