New York Yankees: AL Wild Card Game Preview and Predictions
Empire Writes Back Expert Opinions
Prediction: Yankees 7 Athletics 3
You can expect the Yankees to score early and often tonight eventually leading to a 7-3 Bronx Bombers win. Don’t expect it to be off Liam Hendriks as he will likely only go an inning or maybe two.
The one and only time Hendriks went up against the Yankees this year he went only one inning letting up a walk with no hits and three strikeouts. This being said, expect the Yankees to score early, but it won’t be until they make a call to the bullpen.
In Hendriks’ start against the Yankees on September fourth, the Athletics went through eight different pitchers. Don’t expect the A’s to go through this many pitchers in a playoff matchup, but you can expect them to make multiple calls to the bullpen.
Prediction: Yankees 6 Athletics 4
“I think the Yankees will win the Wild Card game and punch their ticket for a date with the Red Sox in the next round. But I think the game will be closer than people think. The real difference might be the Yankees are home hosting a team normally on the West Coast. It’ll go down to the wire, but it’s tough to pick against this Yankees team right now.”
Prediction: Yankees 8 Athletics 6
“The Yankees have a team that can beat anyone, even the AL East Division winners, the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have home-field advantage for the Wild Card Game and will use their 53-28 home record as an advantage and homer their way to the ALDS.”
Prediction: Yankees 7 Athletics 4
“The Yankees are destined to win the Wild Card Game. As seen in my previous article [linked below], the Athletics are a dangerous team offensively; however, I think the Yankees are deeper than Oakland is.
Next. What to expect out of the A's in the WCG. dark
There is also a chance that they pull a bullpen game out of Bob Melvin’s magic hat, and if they do, there is a chance that they will blow out some of their bigger arms, such as Lou Trivino and Jeurys Familia, earlier in the game.
That could lead to them relying on a less trustworthy arm later in the game unlike the Yankees, who can throw a solid nine innings from their bullpen if necessary.”