The New York Yankees will host the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card game tonight, putting them in an immediate Game 7-type situation. New York was clearly the better team of the two during the regular season, winning 91 games and nearly winning the AL East. Will the Yankees be able to parlay that success into a key playoff win? We say yes. Here are three reasons why they're guaranteed to win tonight:
1) Red-hot Yankees
In one-game situations like this, the better team doesn't always win - but the hottest team does. Luckily for the Yankees, they're both in this scenario. New York has won 20 of their last 28 games going into the postseason while the Twins are trending in the opposite direction, losing three of their last five games and eight of their last 16 overall. Expect both trends to continue.
2) New York's home success
Furthermore, playing this game at home is a huge positive for a New York team that won an AL-high 51 games at Yankee Stadium this season. Slugger Aaron Judge thinks that will be the difference in this game.
“We’re just going to try to treat it like we have the whole season coming here,” Aaron Judge said. “We played well at home. I think once Severy throws that first pitch and we get the game rolling, it will all be the same. I think the buildup before the game is nerve-racking, but once we step out on the field, it’s the same game we’ve been playing since we were little kids.”
Home teams haven't had the most success in wild card games - they're just 3-7 since the game was instituted. However, none of them have been as successful at home as the Yankees have been.
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3) Elite bullpen
Teams with great bullpens always do well in the postseason, and the Yankees have one of the best in the entire league. Once the Yankees take the ball from Luis Severino, they'll hand the ball to several pitchers that have been lights out of late. Closer Aroldis Chapman has found his stride after his mid-season struggles, and setup men David Robertson and Chad Green have combined to give up just one earned run in the last 12 games. Look for this group to dominate this game.
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