Wild Card Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins 10/3

Ladies and gentleman the playoffs are so close that I can almost taste it as Yankee Stadium is just about ready to play host to the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees will send Luis Severino to the mound tonight who will be making his first postseason start ever, minor league or Major Leagues, while the Twins counter with Ervin Santana. The game will be played at 8:00 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on ESPN.

Attention Yankees Fans: T-minus one hour until playoff time and I give you one hour to prepare for this challenge. I want Yankee stadium to be as loud as it’s ever been. Ever. Louder than Derek Jeter’s final game. Louder than the 2015 AL Wild Card Game against the Houston Astros. Ever. Get it done. Challenge accepted.

Here are a few key stats for tonight’s game, hence why I put this game thread up an hour before the actual game starts. There’s a lot of information in this post, you have an hour to cram. Good luck and Go Yankees!!!!!

Twins:

2B Brian Dozier (.269, 34 HRs, 93 RBIs, .853 OPS)

1B Joe Mauer (.305, 7, 71, team-leading 36 doubles, .384 OBP)

SS Jorge Polanco (.256, 13, 74)

LF Eddie Rosario (.290, 27, 78)

DH Miguel Sano (.264, 28, 77)

Kennys Vargas (.253, 11, 41)

Robbie Grossman (.246, 9, 45, .361 OBP)

3B Eduardo Escobar (.254, 21, 73)

CF Byron Buxton (.253, 16, 51, 150 Ks)

RF Max Kepler (.243, 19, 69)

C Jason Castro (.242, 10, 47)

Twins: RH Ervin Santana (16-8, 3.28 ERA, 167 Ks in 211 1/3 IP)

RH Matt Belisle (2-2, 4.03 ERA, 9/14 saves, .218 opponent batting average)

LH Taylor Rogers (7-3, 3.07, 49 Ks in 55 2/3 IP)

RH Trevor Hildenberger (3-3, 3.21, 44 Ks in 42 IP)

RH Alan Busenitz (1-1, 1.99, 23 Ks in 31 2/3 IP)

RH Jose Berrios (14-8, 3.89, 25 starts, 139 Ks in 145 2/3 IP)

RH Tyler Duffey (2-3, 4.94, 67 Ks in 71 IP)

LH Ryan Pressly (2-3, 4.70, 61 Ks in 61 1/3 IP)

Yankees:

LF Brett Gardner (.264, 21, 63, 96 runs, 23 SBs)

RF Aaron Judge (.284, 52, 114)

C Gary Sanchez (.278, 33, 90)

SS Didi Gregorius (.287, 25, 87)

DH Chase Headley (.273, 12, 61)

Matt Holliday (.231, 19, 64)

2B Starlin Castro (.300, 16, 63)

CF Jacoby Ellsbury (.264, 7, 39)

Aaron Hicks (.266, 15, 52)

3B Todd Frazier (.213, 27, 76)

1B Greg Bird (.190, 9, 28)

Yankees: RH Luis Severino (14-8, 2.98, 230 Ks in 193 1/3 IP)

LH Aroldis Chapman (4-3, 3.22, 22/27 saves in 52 games, 69 Ks in 50 1/3 IP)

RH Dellin Betances (3-6, 2.87, 10/13 saves in 66 games, 100 Ks in 50 2/3 IP)

RH David Robertson (9-2, 1.48, 14/16 saves in 61 games)

RH Chad Green (5-0, 1.83, 103 Ks in 69 IP)

RH Tommy Kahnle (2-4, 2.59, 96 Ks in 62 2/3 IP)

RH Adam Warren (3-2, 2.35 in 44 games)

LH Chasen Shreve (4-1, 3.77 in 44 games)

RH Bryan Mitchell (1-1, 5.79 in 20 games)

LH Jaime Garcia (5-10, 4.41 in 27 starts)

The Yankees have beat the Twins in 12 straights games in the postseason.

The Yankees are 89-33 against the Twins since the start of the 2002 season including the postseason.

The last four trips to the postseason for the Twins (2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010 ALDS) have ended at the hands of the New York Yankees.

Ervin Santana is a career 6-10 with a 5.66 ERA in 20 career starts against the Yankees.

New York has the AL’s best home record in 2017 going 51-30 inside Yankee Stadium this season. The Twins were 44-37 on the road here in 2017.

Follow us on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and enjoy the game. Need a win, get a playoff win and let’s get headed out to Cleveland to take on those Wahoo’s. Go Yankees!!!

Prediction: The Yankees #TAKE17 with a 9-2 victory.