Will the Yanks have a brief October appearance, one-and-done at home against the upstart Oakland A’s? Or is tonight just the beginning, with none other than the Boston Red Sox waiting next, standing in the way of a chance to compete for the pennant?
You’d be fool to pick a one-game playoff with any degree of certainty and part of me has a bad, bad feeling about this game. Been feeling that way for the past couple of months. So, let’s hope I’m wrong and our Dudes survive the A’s and push on to a heart attack city series against the Sox.
Either way, we’ll be here, root-root-rootin’ our guys on:
Never mind the nerves:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
Picture by Bags
You're not the only one feeling nervous about this one.
I’m serene tonight. Of course I just had a hard drive failure. Got back ups of data, but now I have to reinstall all the programs and bookmarks.
LET’S GO YANKEES!!! ⚾️
I'm hoping for a blow out in favor of the good guys. Go Yankees!
It's time for Bullet Rye on the rocks. Sevi will be gone if the first 20 pitches are not top rate.
stuck with TBS.
SEVY!!!
way to start!
Go Severino! Good start.
3 beautiful pitches. They were all strikes. So was that!
Miggy! Voit! 2 quick outs.
little miggy, luke get together
Already a better start for Sevy
That was a strike. C’mon!
Should be 1-2...
My brother and middle nephew are at the game!
YEAH!!!
Wow. Heat!
what an effing start!
Luis!
Hooyah!
Man, the Stadium is rocking. Rocktober! They are on every pitch.
Great start by Sevy.
Cutch! Love this dude.
Nice 1st inning from Sevy!
Low and outside...
Yes!
ALL RISE!!!
Verdict!
so much for the "starter"
I love Judge’s ruling!
SLAM.
Hell Fucking yes. There went the Judge!
JUDGE!!!! My throat hurts from screaming!
My nephew said the stadium is shaking!
Two nice cuts
Terrible swing at ball 4...
I accept that start.
Judge sent that one all the way to the Supreme Court. What a start, huh?
Alrighty. It’s nice to see Judge get over 116 mph. Back to Sevy!
Shut down inning!
DOWN GOES DAVIS
[37] I also accept it!
Gosh it's been too long since I accepted things.
Damn good AB by Olson...
That looked good.
Come on, Luis, get the double play here.
Good 2-2 slider.
The Jazz Man is here, I missed Judge's tater! Let's GO YAN-KEES!
Sweet!
Man, he looks good.
Ballsy!
Nicely framed.
Hot shit.
5 ks. Sevi looking fine
Struck out the side!
WHIFF!!! Sevy dealing
Nice "opener" for Sevy.
I’d feel better with more runs
Phew.
Gogo Didi!
Gary slam, I'm calling it.
I love Miggy Mantle! Bought his 1981 replica card and hoped it arrived in time for this game. Maybe tomorrow...
I have my 1983 replica Sanchize card in my hand!
Gary needs to keep that front shoulder up.
Yeesh
I knew that was coming. Goddaamn daily dp from Gary.
He didn’t go around!
Nice inning-deflating GIDP, Gary. Good thing he’s so strong behind the plate.
Fucking Bollocks!
Crap
hey, let's get another good Sevi inning
No leaf off passes!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
43 pitches, he may not get through 5..
Argh. I loathe leadoff walks
let's get 2
Yikes!
nice play DD
Settle down on these infield throws
Ugh. At least we got the lead runner. The two non strikeouts were more adventurous than needed
Where the fuck was that???
up calling it tight
Phew
Whew.
Sevy gettin’ squeezed a bit too much for my liking.
yes!
Whew
[83] For everybody's liking. Still, he has 3 zeros.
Get Trivino out of there.
So Trivino gets the low strike called versus Judge, but Severino can’t get the same vs (rookie) Laureano...
Nooooooooooooooo!
Grrrrr
Terrible throw
Needed Tex to scoop it
voit shudda picked it
Dammit Andujar. Stop looping it over there.
Can't-Do-Jar needs to work on his D
Some rookie yips
I hate how Olson holds his hands/bat
Come on, Luis!
I don't like this. JFC!
E + W o's not good.
Danger...
Don’t know what’s worse or predictable. Sanchez sucking at the plate or Andujar in the field.
Ugh, A's radio team just said 'This would be a good time for a Gary Sanchez Special, the Passed Ball'...
How’d he hold up?
Gulp. One more.
The guy Ken, who’s the main A’s radio guy, is really great and I dig him a lot. Hopefully, it wasn’t him who made that shitty remark
If these roles were reversed, Eck and Darling would NOT be talking about all the ways the Yanks could get back in the game...
Fuck You blue!!!
Brutal.
[107] I like Darling, but Eck is kind of annoying.
Hmm.
Control is imperfect.
You’re killing us, blue
Man, this ump sucks.
Come on, pound the zone.
Where's Cone and Kenny when you need them?
Two different strike zones
There you go.
MLB must be pissed small market Brewers eliminated the Cubs
I think it's fair to call this a High Leverage Situation.
That's it. End this.
Atta boy!
Yeah, baby.
Phewf!
Onions! Straight cheese!
Hallelujah
before the game, I'd have jumped at 4 Sevi innings with no runs.
High Heat! Does he come back out for the 5th?
Lou Lee Trivino Ferregno back out for a 3rd??
Damn! Take that to the bank!
100 mph HEAT and a guttural SCREAM!
[127] Ha. Nice. I'll raise you an Albino! Capt. Lou.
sure would like a couple of more.
More runs, please.
Motherfucker
Righty vs Didi
Fucking hell
[130] I remember asking a friend of mine in Brooklyn, 'Why is every guy in your family named Tony?' 'That's not true, I got two cousins named Paulie and two named Vinnie..c'mon, it's Bensonhurst man, what do you expect?'
Goddamn GameDay feed. I missed a half inning FFS!
Damn.
There goes the nono. Need a quick dp
Two batters two late..
Thiught Dellin would start the frame. Now he comes into a tough situation
Aarons should have gad DB at the top
Why have Severino start the 5th? So Betances can dance out of trouble? Makes no sense.
Yup.
Ridiculous. All those squeezed pitches by the home plate ump. What an awful job behind the plate.
Betances here is a mistake. Should be Green.
A's radio guys excited that Bettances is in as 'he relies on his curveball and that's dangerous with Sanchez behind the plate..' D'oh!!
Dayum, Judge almost threw him out
Huuuuuuuuuuuuge!
DB!
WAHOO!!!
Phewf redux
Woooooo!
Nasty!
[146] Thankfully I was wrong. Dellin with only 10 pitches. He's got the plate. I bring him back out.
let's get a couple now
Only 11 pitches for Dellin.
I send him back out too, OYF. Unless, of course, we take 30 minutes putting up a crooked number!
Chapman is sooo good, but that’s a single!
Andu!
No Fucking double play, Gary!
Did the ss ever step on second?
Sanchez go wheels
Seamus - he definitely did
For big green!
[164] ok i missed it i guess
Feh
Damn it
[165] btw look closely at that truck. Donated but Cutch. My wife’s non-profit.
Still Dellin
Miggy out of the game already. Me no likey
Way too early to remove one of our best hitters
Really wanted another AB from Miggy Mantle
Yeah, Dellin
Dancin'!
DELLIN!!!
Dang.
98mph on the black, nasty!
Dellin Dealin'
Who’s this new guy?
DB is da best
Judge vs Rodney. Make it 3-0!
Yes!
Judge!
No respect for Rodney.
all rise
Not a Judgian blast,
BUT I ACCEPT IT.
Beautiful!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, AH.
hicksie
Nice!
Hicks!
Insurance! I like F-Rodney but let's knock him out.
WP! “Sanchez Special” - fuck off!
Lucroy sucks at blocking the ball. Get rid of him.
Come on, Mike. Swat one.
need the 4th
C'mon Stanty! (Giancar-ly?)
Finally. Got most of my papers in order. Moving next week. I hope.
How hard would you shit yourself to see a squeeze here? :)
Here it comes.
Good take.
I want a Stanton special
Easy contact, now.
Pepper to CF.
Oh, gifted.
I accept that walk.
Wow. That call went our way!
Or a Voit volt
we got a call
Dagger time.
Wheels!
C’mon, meatball.
Nice steal. Good strategy!
Sit on one, Luke!
Straight up the middle, now.
Luuuuuuuuuuuuk#!!!
Oh man.
God that was beautiful.
Not quite a volt, but I’ll take it!
LUUUUUUKE! Unreal
Thank you.
YessinDD!
Demerits for the early celebration but the guy made it to third anyway.
I’ll allow it.
Luke, you are my father
looking good. very good
Luuuuuuke!
Bam bam Voit!
I’d challenge, nothing to lose. Still don’t think there’s enough to overturn
Safe!
Looks out from that angle
Yes!
Nice.
SAFE
Well Hell's bells!
Love it!
6-0 is good. Keep hammerin'
The Force is strong with Luke.
Just poured a beer in my Yankees pint glass!
High Socks for hope! I’m playing in his home state of Alabama this weekend
WOW! Defensive replacement!
Hot Damn!
Boone is a GENIUS!
Nice, Cutch!
That fan is really dumb for reaching over
This telecast is terrible. That is a real reach to look for interference there
Anything anti-Yankee is the M.O. of all national broadcasts. Sickens me
What a pitch!
D-ROB!!!
nice inning DRob
[247] too true
time for another rye. maybe 5th
[251] America loves underdogs but it truly is the Evil Empire. People hate that the Yankees embody that.
Bring in Gardner?
[253] An underdog is no good if there isn’t a villain. I’m happy for the Yankees to play the villain. Good villains have success.
This ump needs to give other umps a clinic on Judge’s strike zone.
Judge on base again!
That was not a strike
Yup. Low.
Stop making Judge dive! He’s not running!!!
[255] Let's call the Red Sox and the Dodgers villains.
[261] they do have higher payrolls than the modest Yankees
I’m good with that, Boat!
Stop promoting the A's.
Finally a DP! Not sure he was out at first though. Nice split by Voit. I hope he’s alright between that and his knee on the slide at home.
Safe, yeah
He is safe
I can't believe Eck is getting paid for what he's doing. He's just up there shooting the breeze.
I blew a call like that umping a little league game when I was 11. Last time I ever umped a game.
There goes the shutout. Shit
Modammit, shutout gone. Need more runs
Fuck
that sucks
Fuck these announcers. And JFHC Britton. Get it together quick.
Green should be in already!
Count me in as hating every idiot babbling away in the booth.
Green or Chapman in the 9th?
Phew part trey
Britton shiws he's an O.lucky to get out.
Chapman 1st. Green is the safety net.
Giancarlo
An Empire State Blast.
They are whining about a ball that was called a ball lol. And Stanton crushes it.
WOWIE ZOWIE!!!
Now that’s a home run! Giancarlo!! I feel sorry for that ball, it goes to the emergency ward
Holy shite. I could’ve sworn it was foul live. Kaboom!
[Voice of all my dead Irish ancestors] Jayyyyzus.
Only now in retrospect do I realize I never fully appreciated Munson or Winfield or Mattingly or O’Neill or Steve freaking Balboni for that matter...
...because I never knew their launch angles and exit velocities.
Such a benighted age. We’re we really watching baseball at all then? Or just shadows on a cave wall?
*were* dammit
Yeah, I think a bullpen game in an elimination game has had a stake driven through its heart. If you don’t have a reliable starter you should go home
That was a statement home run. A declaration. Wow.
Throw strikes!
[288] blame Bud Selig.
Unfortunately “bullpenning” the one game Wild Card game makes 100% sense when the sole goal is to live to fight another day, preferably without burning your ace.
ONE down!
One down
Chapman's bringin' it.
Two down
TWO down!!
101 and another K!
I hear “we want Boston” and can’t help but remember filing out of game 2 in 95 to chants of “we want Cleveland.”
Can’t wait to read Mike Axisa’s recap @ RAB!
WE WANT BOSTON
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Ballgame.
Bring on Boston!!!
Still baseball season!
We did it! Let’s kill boston!
Three down! Pitcher fielding practice
It’s a shame for the A’s? That’s what Darling talks about right away. Fuck off!!!
I love it when a plan comes together. Cheers, y'all.
Night all.
[307] i’m Loudly complaining here. But also enjoying the win!!!
Shout out to Sanchez who was solid defensively all game.
Hope for less TBS. Announcers suck.
[311] true. Though his at bats weren’t great...
[312] TBS Sports is atrocious. What a shit-ass production, right down to the subdued lady on the field (missing Rocky). Darling was the only professional, IMHO.
Thanks for keeping it real, guys. Seeya in Beantown.
Yes.
Hey Alex Belth, did you see old friend Emma Span is now Editor over at The Athletic?
Yes, the TBS announcers are awful. It kills me that major league baseball is okay taking the best product they have -- the postseason -- and doling it out the highest bidder, regardless of how the games will be presented. FOX is fine, as is ESPN, but TBS is ridiculous. Listening to Eckersley complaining about the non-strike to, was it Stanton? Judge? -- even an inning later ("I gotta have that call") was painful. And I also noticed that Darling went straight to the A's at the final out. The disappointment of the losing team is always part of the story, especially in a wildcard game, but at least mention the winning team before you begin your postmortem of the losers.
[318] yup. And Happ gets the start tomorrow
Hey Alex... new feed for tonight?
TBS is awful, I've been trying to listen to Old John and Suz, but the timing is annoyingly off. Wish MLBTV would allow us to follow a team sportcast.
Just imagine what a good annoucing team could do with the Yanks/Sawks games, given the history between the 2 teams. I mean Aaron f*ing Boone is managing the Yanks! And Cora leading Beantown? Maybe a cameo with Bucky Dent, or Pedro throwing down Zim.