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| Date | October 3, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Yankee Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | The Bronx, New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | HP:Alfonso Márquez 1B:Mike Winters(crew chief) 2B:Eric Cooper 3B:Lance Barksdale LF:Tripp Gibson RF:John Tumpane[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 49,280 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremonial first pitch | Chasen Shreve[2][a] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Dan Shulman,Jessica Mendoza,Aaron Boone, andBuster Olney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jon Sciambi andChris Singleton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The2017 American League Wild Card Game was aplay-in game duringMajor League Baseball's (MLB)2017 postseason that was played between theAmerican League's (AL) twowild card teams, theNew York Yankees and theMinnesota Twins. The game was televised nationally byESPN. The game took place on October 3 atYankee Stadium, with the Yankees winning 8–4, thus eliminating the Twins from the postseason and advancing the Yankees to theAL Division Series (ALDS), in which they defeated theCleveland Indians, 3–2.
This was Minnesota's first playoff appearance as a Wild Card team, and their first postseason appearance since the2010 American League Division Series.[3] This was also their first appearance after enduring a 59-103 record the year prior, the worst record since moving to Minnesota. After clinching their spot, the Twins namedErvin Santana as their starting pitcher.[4]Miguel Sanó was left off of the roster because of his injured left shin.[5] The Twins had an 85–77 record and finished in second place in the AL Central, 17 games behind the Indians.[6]
This was New York's sixth playoff appearance as a Wild Card team, and their first postseason appearance since the2015 American League Wild Card Game.Luis Severino started for the Yankees.[7] With a 91–71 record, the Yankees finished in second place in the AL East, two games behind the division-winning Red Sox.[6]
This was the fifth postseason meeting between the two clubs, with the Yankees winning all four previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the2010 American League Division Series in which the Yankees swept the Twins in three games.[3] This loss also extended the Twins' postseason losing streak to 13 games; ten of those games were against the Yankees.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Minnesota | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 8 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:David Robertson (1–0) LP:José Berríos (0–1) Home runs: MIN:Brian Dozier (1),Eddie Rosario (1) NYY:Didi Gregorius (1),Brett Gardner (1),Aaron Judge (1) Attendance: 49,280 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Twins did not waste any time getting to Severino, withBrian Dozier hitting aleadoffhome run. This was followed by a walk toJorge Polanco and another home run, this one byEddie Rosario, to put the Twins quickly up 3–0.[8] After allowing a single byEduardo Escobar and a double byMax Kepler, Severino was relieved after only recording one out, marking the shortest appearance by a Yankees starting pitcher in postseason history.[9]Chad Green relieved Severino and recorded consecutivestrikeouts to end the inning.[10] The Yankees quickly responded, however, tying the game in the bottom of the first inning on a three-run home run byDidi Gregorius as Twins starterErvin Santana also struggled, throwing 41 pitches in the inning.[11][12]Brett Gardner's home run in the next inning gave the Yankees the lead. In the top of the third, after loading the bases with one out, Green was replaced byDavid Robertson. Robertson induced a potential double-play ground ball fromByron Buxton, but the Yankees weren't able to get the speedy Buxton out at first, allowing the Twins to tie the game at 4.[11]
José Berríos relieved Santana (who had thrown 64 pitches in the first two innings) to start the bottom of the third, and the Yankees quickly pounced on the right-hander.Gary Sánchez doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on an RBI single byGreg Bird to give the Yankees the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, rookie sensationAaron Judge hit a two-run home run to extend the Yankee lead to 7–4.[13]Tommy Kahnle relieved Robertson, who had thrown a career-high3+1⁄3 innings, all scoreless, to finish the sixth inning and threw2+1⁄3 shutout innings of his own.[11] In the bottom of the seventh, a two-out bases-loaded walk toAaron Hicks further extended the Yankees' lead to 8–4.[11] CloserAroldis Chapman pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation for the Yankees to end the game and advance the Yankees to theALDS.[14]