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New York Yankees Finally Clinch Home-Field for Wild Card

By Josh Peelman

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On Monday, September 28th, the New York Yankees knew the goal was to win and you’re in (the postseason). It took until Thursday night to accomplish that goal against the Boston Red Sox, but they finally did it. They did it in historic fashion too, recording their 10,000th win in franchise history which only 7 other franchises in Major League Baseball history has ever done. That win set them up to play in the AL Wild Card Game this Tuesday, October 6th versus the Houston Astros. With that business taken care of, the next mission for the Yankees was to win one more game against the Baltimore Orioles this weekend and clinch home-field advantage in the Wild Card.

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The Yankees, in their season finale Sunday, still needing that one game to be certain of clinching home field, fell short losing yet again; their third straight game to the Orioles, 9-4. Luckily for the Yankees, the Astros also lost their game to the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing the Yankees to clinch home-field advantage for the game on Tuesday.

The Yankees have really struggled of late and have given up crucial games down the stretch that they desperately needed to win. With the AL East on the line they lost two out of three  to the Toronto Blue Jays, three out of four games to the Boston Red Sox, and all three games against the Baltimore Orioles to end the regular season. For the Yankees and their fans it does not look good, and it looks like the Yankees are heading in the wrong direction as they enter the postseason.

Israel Gonzalez, of our very own Empire Writes Back, digs in deeper into just how much the Yankees have been sliding lately and how they seem to backing their way into the postseason. Fortunately, as he writes, the Yankees have been lucky enough to have a cushion in terms of the wild-card for some time now. Without it, the Yankees very well could have missed the postseason for the third straight year. I guess we’ll never know. Instead the Yankees had to clinch the home field advantage in the wild card after the last game of the season had concluded.

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Maybe things would have been different if the Yankees momentum from clinching a postseason berth was able to shift from Thursday night to Friday night. Unfortunately, Friday’s game was postponed due to rain. That meant the Yankees had to play a double-header against the Orioles Saturday.

The first game was a disaster as Ivan Nova once again proved he struggles as a starting pitcher, losing the game 9-2; bringing his record this year to 6-11 as a starter. In the second game of the double-header, Dellin Betances’s wild pitch in the 8th inning allowed a run to score, dooming the Yankees, as the Orioles won 4-3.

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The whole team looked like they were in funk in the first game, hitting only six hits leading to two runs, while the Orioles scored nine runs on 15 hits. The Yankees went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in that game. If the Yankees have an outing like that next Tuesday against what should be a better opponent in the Astros, the Yankees will struggle and probably even lose, and that’s not being dramatic; that’s just-plain honesty.

The Yankees did play better in the second game, but still lost yet another close game they needed to win. They topped that all off by losing their season finale Sunday, but luckily they had already secured the one win needed to be in the postseason, and got the loss they needed to secure home field for the wild card. Still, the Yankees must know this is not the way they wanted to earn it.

The Yankees play again this Tuesday, October 6th in the Wild Card Game vs the Houston Astros at 8pm. The game will be televised on ESPN. The Houston Astros won four out of seven games against the Yankees this year, of which they won 2-of-3 games at Yankee Stadium this year. That’s the bad news, but the good news for the Yankees is that the Astros also finished 33-48 on the road this year, so let’s hope that plays a role. The winner will go on to play the Kansas City Royals.

Next: Where Are The Yankees In Our MLB Power Rankings?

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