Yankees wild-card win is a perfect example of the 2017 season

Similar to the regular season, the Yankees fought back from inconsistent starting pitching, showcasing their power bats and stellar bullpen to advance to the ALDS.

Yankees starter Luis Severino earned the right to pitch the most important game of the season-to-date. Unfortunately, Sevvy looked as bad as he did the last time he took the hill against the Twins back on Sept. 20, when he allowed three runs and five hits in just three innings.

After allowing a leadoff home run to Brian Dozier, and three batters later, a two-run shot by Eddie Rosario, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead, Severino was chased from the game in the quickest outing by a starter in the last 15 years of playoff baseball.

After only six batters, reliever-extraordinaire, Chad Green entered the contest earlier than anyone could have ever anticipated. With runners on second and third and only one out, Green struck out Byron Buxton and Jason Castro to stop the bleeding.

It would take the Yankees four hitters of their own to tie the game at three, as Didi Gregorius launched a no-doubt three-run bomb to quell the fears of Yankee fans everywhere. One inning later, Brett Gardner crushed a home run down the right-field line to give the Yanks the lead.

Then in the fourth inning, Aaron Judge did, well, what Aaron Judge does best, hit a home run that would put the wild-card game out of reach for good.

Manager Joe Girardi told ESPN the effect having a player like Judge has on the rest of the team.

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“There’s just something about him, the way he carries himself that you just feel really good when he’s around.”

Over the next 8.2 innings, the Yankees’ bullpen allowed just one run, tying a playoff-best 13 strikeouts, highlighted by the longest outing — eight outs — of David Robertson’s stellar career.

Even Tommy Kahnle got in on the action, pitching like he did for the White Sox — really, really good. In 2.1 innings pitched, Kahnle didn’t allow a single base runner.

Whether you believe Kahnle’s dominance was Girardi’s cue to keep Dellin Betances fresh for the start of Thursday night’s ALDS, or perhaps protect him from imploding in a do-or-die game, Betances was all smiles following the 8-4 win.

As he told The New York Post:

“Whatever situation they want to use me in is fine,” Betances said. “Obviously, these guys pitched unbelievable tonight.”“Joe just rode the hot hand. It was pretty awesome what the guys did.”

From Aroldis Chapman’s vintage-self, throwing the fastest recorded pitch in playoff history, to Gary Sanchez fighting through the pain of getting hit in the nether region, and Didi Gregorius’ ever-expanding heroics, these Yankees demonstrated exactly what’s made them special in 2017.

On top of that, we were privy to some raw emotion from Judge, following his 108 mph screamer over the right-center field wall. The California Kid was stoked!

Next: Judge deserves the AL MVP over Altuve

Not only is this group of men capitalizing on exactly what makes them so special, but with each passing game become more and more confident. The likes of which make them a very dangerous team heading into the ALDS versus the Indians.