Yankees: Aaron Boone makes significant changes in Game 1 lineup for Wild Card series

The New York Yankees have dropped their lineup for Game 1 of the Wild Card series.

Did we tell you, or did we tell you? We had a hunch New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone would be making some adjustments to the lineup ahead of Game 1 of the Wild Card series against the Cleveland Indians and Shane Bieber.

And do we have adjustments! For starters, please swallow your food or beverage before reading this: Brett Gardner is getting the start over Clint Frazier in left field, and we KNOW fans are going to be furious about that (despite the fact Gardy has been scorching hot over the last 13 games, slashing 394/.524/.667 with two homers and six RBI while Frazier is just one for his last 20).

But let’s not dampen the mood. We got Luke Voit batting cleanup and Giancarlo Stanton hitting fifth (he’s yet to bat outside of the No. 3 or 4 spots this year). It will not be an easy night for Bieber. And we got what we wanted! No Judge-Stanton sandwiched together during their current slides.

Gardner and Gleyber Torres that far down in the lineup has to have fans feeling good, too. Gardner, on top of being in a groove at the moment, will provide another lefty bat vs the right-handed Bieber. While Torres hasn’t exactly been a revelation this year, he’s a tremendous hitter to have in the No. 7 spot.

Alright, back to the whole Gardy-Frazier thing. Here’s what Boone had to say about the tough decision:

He does have a point. Aaron Hicks is the only other lefty in the lineup. But if you really want to give Boone grief about this, Bieber actually has better numbers against left-handed hitters this year. Check out the splits:

• Right-handed batters vs Bieber are hitting .181 with a .565 OPS
• Left-handed batters vs Bieber are hitting .153 with a 417 OPS

And there’s only a difference of 13 at-bat between the righties and lefties. Uh oh. Perhaps he should have just mentioned Frazier’s recent slide…

Nonetheless, the Yankees need to bring the intensity in every at-bat, regardless of which side the plate they’re on. Bieber is likely the AL Cy Young winner, so the best the Bombers can do is take advantage of his lack of postseason experience.

See you all at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Yankees: Worst possible umpire assigned to Yanks-Indians series

The New York Yankees are running into home plate umpire John Tumpane in their series with the Indians, who ran into the catcher last week.