AL Wild Card recap: Aaron Judge hammers the Yankees into the ALDS

The four-hour marathon Wild Card game had everything a baseball fan could want, including Aaron Judge doing what he does best and smashing a home run.

My goodness was this game filled with fireworks. As the great broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Penguins Mike Lange is apt to say, “If you missed the start of this game, shame on you for six weeks!”

The Yankees faithful had to be extremely concerned when Twins second baseman Brian Dozier led off the game with a home run. Things got worse before they got better after left fielder Eddie Rosario tucked a ball just over the fence for a Yankee Stadium home run, bringing the lead to 3-0 Minnesota.

Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino was pulled after just 1/3 of an inning, giving up four hits and all three runs.

Fortunately for New York fans, the Yankees have a strong bullpen and an offense that can make a deficit disappear in a hurry. Sure enough, shortstop Didi Gregorius tied the game in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run bomb. The Yankees never trailed again.

Left fielder Brett Gardner joined the home run party with a solo shot in the 2nd inning. The damage could have potentially been worse if not for Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton. He made a spectacular catch while crashing into the wall the help limit the Yankees to just one run. Relief pitcher Chad Green gave the lead back in the 3rd on a fielder’s choice to center fielder Byron Buxton. It’s a shame Buxton was forced from the game shortly after with some type of injury.

Relief pitcher Chad Green gave the lead back in the 3rd on a fielder’s choice to Buxton, knotting the game at four. First baseman Greg Bid gave the Yankees the lead for good in the 3rd inning with a RBI single. That set the stage for rookie phenom Aaron Judge to absolutely scorch a baseball into the left field stands for a two-run homer. That brought the score to 7-4 in favor of New York.

Relief pitcher David Robertson deserves a dinner from his teammates because he saved the day. He went 3 1/3 innings without giving up a run and settled the game down for New York. First baseman Joe Mauer gave the Yankees a big scare in the 6th inning with a flyout to left field with two runners on, but that was it for the Twins. A RBI walk from Aaron Hicks rounded out the scoring. The Yankees bullpen only gave up one run in 8 2/3 innings, which is just insanely good. One could argue that the pen is the biggest strength of the Yankees, not the offense.

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Now that the Yankees have dispatched the Twins, they face the powerhouse Cleveland Indians. The Indians have the pitching to silence the Yankee bats and the offensive firepower to keep up with any team. They didn’t win 102 games by accident. The Yankees most likely need a continued superhuman effort from Judge and others on the offense.  Cleveland will be favored, but the Yankees have earned a celebration for moving on in the postseason.