The 2017 American League Wild Card Game was a

play-in game A play-in gameTh ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's (MLB) 2017 postseason that was played between the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

's (AL) two wild card teams, the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

and the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. The game was televised nationally by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. The game took place on October 3 at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

, with the Yankees winning 8–4, thus eliminating the Twins from the postseason and advancing the Yankees to the AL Division Series (ALDS), in which they defeated the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, 3–2.

Background

This was Minnesota's first playoff appearance as a Wild Card team, and their first postseason appearance since the

2010 American League Division Series The 2010 American League Division Series (ALDS) were two best-of-five game series to determine the participating teams in the 2010 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners and a fourth "Wild Card" team (the team with th ...

. After clinching their spot, the Twins named

Ervin Santana Ervin Ramon Santana (born Johan Ramon Santana; December 12, 1982) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals (twice), Atlanta Braves ...

as their starting pitcher.

Miguel Sanó Miguel Ángel Jean Sanó (born May 11, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball first baseman and third baseman who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins. He made his MLB debut on July 2 ...

was left off of the roster because of his injured left shin. The Twins had an 85–77 record and finished in second place in the AL Central, 17 games behind the Indians. This was New York's sixth playoff appearance as a Wild Card team, and their first postseason appearance since the

2015 American League Wild Card Game The 2015 American League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 postseason played between the American League's (AL) two wild card teams, the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. It was held at Yankee S ...

Luis Severino Luis Severino (born February 20, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Severino signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2011, and made his MLB debut in 2015. ...

started for the Yankees. With a 91–71 record, the Yankees finished in second place in the AL East, two games behind the division-winning Red Sox. This was the fifth postseason meeting between the two clubs, with the Yankees winning all four previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the

in which the Yankees swept the Twins in three games. This loss also extended the Twins' postseason losing streak to 13 games; ten of those games were against the Yankees.

Game results

Line score

The Twins did not waste any time getting to Severino, with

Brian Dozier James Brian Dozier (;born May 15, 1987) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. The Minnesota Twins selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his MLB debut in 2012 and he played i ...

hitting a

leadoff In baseball, a lead or lead off is the short distance that a player stands away from their current base. On the bases In baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batti ...

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. This was followed by a walk to

Jorge Polanco Jorge Luis Pacheco Polanco (born July 5, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Polanco signed with the Minnesota Twins as an international free agent in 2009. He made ...

and another home run, this one by

Eddie Rosario Eddie Manuel Rosario, Jr. (born September 28, 1991) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball left fielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Rosario was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draf ...

, to put the Twins quickly up 3–0. After allowing a single by

Eduardo Escobar Eduardo José Escobar (born January 5, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball third baseman for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks a ...

and a double by

Max Kepler Maximilian Kepler-Różycki (born February 10, 1993) is a German professional baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2015. Before signing with the Twins, he played for Buchbinder Legio ...

, Severino was relieved after only recording one out, marking the shortest appearance by a Yankees starting pitcher in postseason history. Chad Green relieved Severino and recorded consecutive

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s to end the inning. The Yankees quickly responded, however, tying the game in the bottom of the first inning on a three-run home run by

Didi Gregorius Mariekson Julius "Didi" Gregorius (born February 18, 1990) is a Dutch professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees and Philadel ...

as Twins starter

also struggled, throwing 41 pitches in the inning.

Brett Gardner Brett Michael Gardner (born August 24, 1983) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Gardner was a walk-on for the College of Charleston's base ...

'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 by David Robertson. Robertson induced a potential double-play ground ball from

Byron Buxton Byron Keiron Buxton (born December 18, 1993) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the second highest-rated prospect in baseball according to MLB.com and Baseball Pr ...

, but the Yankees weren't able to get the speedy Buxton out at first, allowing the Twins to tie the game at 4.

José Berríos José Orlando Berríos (born May 27, 1994), nicknamed "La Makina" (Spanish for "The Machine"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Minnesota Twins, ...

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 by Greg Bird to give the Yankees the lead.. In the bottom of the fourth, rookie sensation

Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Judge was unanimously selected as the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2017, and finishe ...

hit a two-run home run to extend the Yankee lead to 7–4.

Tommy Kahnle Thomas Robert Kahnle (born August 7, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers ...

relieved Robertson, who had thrown a career-high innings, all scoreless, to finish the sixth inning and threw shutout innings of his own. In the bottom of the seventh, a two-out bases-loaded walk to

Aaron Hicks Aaron Michael Hicks (born October 2, 1989) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft. He made his ...

further extended the Yankees' lead to 8–4. Closer

Aroldis Chapman Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Chica ...

pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation for the Yankees to end the game and advance the Yankees to the

ALDS In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...

Notes

References

External links

2017 Major League Baseball postseason schedule
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American League Wild Card Game The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was first instituted in 2012; best-of-three ...

Major League Baseball Wild Card Game

Minnesota Twins postseason New York Yankees postseason

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