The Start of the Playoffs for the New York Yankees - Andy Stefancik

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Today is October 2, two days before the New York Yankees begin their postseason matchups, and look to eventually punch their ticket into the 2019 World Series. The Yankees ended the season with a record of 103-59, the third-best in the Majors behind only the Dodgers and the Astros, and they are the second seed in the American League bracket. On Friday, October 4th, the Yanks will face off with the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of the American League Divisional series. The Twins will walk into the Bronx with a pep in their step, ending the season with a record of 101-61 and a Major League record 307 home runs. The best of 5 set should be a good one, seeing as these two teams are very similar in how they play -- they both rely on the home run ball. While the twins hit 307 homers this year, the Yankees were only one behind that at 306, and with Yankee stadium being a home run hitters dream (right field is only 314 feet, which is not a lot), there should be a lot of balls flying out of the park during this series. Also, the Yanks and the Twins had arguably the game of the year a while back, so the expectations for this series are reasonably high. For game one, the likely starter for the Yankees will be Masahiro Tanaka, their ace. However, they could also start their number 2 pitcher Louis Severino (The rest of their pitchers aren't top tier). Severino has a reputation for cracking under pressure, so if they didn't win game one with Tanaka, it wouldn't be ideal to start Severino in what is pretty much a must-win Game 2. Either way, they can still rely on what has made them one of the best teams in the league all year, their offense. With guys like Didi Gregorius, Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu, and others they are able to hit the baseball, which should be able to win them games. I will be going to Game 1 on Friday night, and the following paragraph will be my thought after the game.

Well, it went well. The Yankees actually started James Paxton, who pitched well. After giving up a few early runs, the Yankees got big RBIs from Edwin Encarnacion and Gleyber Torres, and they were able to hold the Twins to only 4 runs. With insurance homers in the 7th inning by DJ LeMahieu and Brett Gardner, the Yankees were able to win the game 10-4, to take Game 1.

This paragraph is being written on October 29, a while after the first game of the ALDS. Long story short, the Yankees beat the Twins in three games, which led them to the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros. The Yanks took game one 7-0 on a 4 RBI day for Gleyber Torres, but from there it all went downhill. New York lost the next three games due to poor performance by their offense. They were able to hold the Astros to only a couple runs each game, but they weren't able to capitalize on scoring chances, going 1-16 with runners in scoring position, and stranding 26 runners on base in those three games. Their offense didn't produce like they needed to, and although they were able to steal a Game 5 win, they lost in Game 6 on a walk-off homer by Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. This ended a season that began with extremely high expectations, and while making it to the ALCS is nothing to complain about, New York's lack of offensive production in games 2, 3, and 4 led them to 3 costly losses, and ultimately, the end of what looked to be a very promising season.

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Location: The Bronx, NY, USA

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