MINNEAPOLIS — Elsewhere, in Tampa and in St. Louis and in Washington, D.C., baseball teams had opportunities to take care of business and did not. The Astros got thwacked by the Rays. The Braves couldn’t get the final six outs against the Cardinals. The Dodgers got smacked by Max Scherzer and whacked by Ryan Zimmerman.
Those series go on.
This one ends as it had to end, with the Yankees all but forcing the Twins to tap out, overpowering them for a third straight game even if the final score, 5-1, tries to deceive you, tries to let you think the Twins had a shot Monday night. They did not. Gleyber Torres hit an early home run. Luis Severino made a bunch of gutty pitches. A parade of Yankees relievers came in, punched the clock, worked their shift, moved on.
And so the Yankees move on, too. Everyone else has work to do. The Yankees get the rest of the week off. They get to see if Houston can flick away the pesky Rays on Tuesday night, filling out their side of the playoff bracket. They get to see if the Dodgers, who always seem to have answers for any crisis, have one more in a win-or-go-home game Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
This was one of the tricks of the Yankees’ success during their dynasty days. If they had a chance to close you out, chances were they closed you out as soon as possible. The first three times they won the World Series under Joe Torre — 1996, 1998, 1999 — they never faced a do-or-die game. Every time, nine out of nine, they finished the job as soon as the job could be finished.
It was a useful skill, and remains one. The Yankees won’t play Game 1 of the American League Championship Series until Saturday night, either in Houston or The Bronx. They can craft their starting rotation exactly as they please. Every one of the bullpen arms will get four full days of rest.
Meanwhile? In Tampa, the Astros will use Justin Verlander — on short rest, no less — to try and close out that series on Tuesday, which means that even if the Astros take care of business Verlander is out of play for Game 1 of the ALCS, for sure. In LA, the Dodgers face a real risk of elimination, having to figure out how to beat Stephen Strasburg.
It makes for good theater, watching those series go as deep as possible. But the Yankees aren’t in the business of good theater. They are in the market for 11 postseason victories. They got three quickies, and now they get to go home, relax, chill, and wait for the rest of baseball to catch up to them.
That’s good business.
Target Field was loud Monday night, Minnesota baseball fans refusing to believe that the 101 wins they’d witnessed during the regular season were about to be sent through a wood chipper. So 41,121 roared with hope the first three innings when the Twins got a total of six base runners on against Severino.
In the second it was bases loaded, nobody out. The Yankees had jumped to a 1-0 lead on Torres’ home run, but the Twins seemed poised to pounce. Severino looked shaken. A year ago, the Red Sox had all but stolen his lunch money in a 16-1 rout in the ALDS. Severino looked primed to be pulverized.
Except Miguel Sano popped up, a mile high. One out.
And Jake Cave stared at Severino’s best slider of the night, shaking his head as he walked away from home plate, the crowd suddenly muted, suddenly understanding that they could get as loud as they wanted to get, it wasn’t going to make a bit of difference. The Yankees had business to tend to. And it would be tended to.
So they get to go home, take a few days off, then ease back into October. The others? Maybe the Astros get it done Tuesday night at the Trop, maybe they’re forced to wait until Thursday in Houston, which will bring a win-or-else gauntlet with it. The Dodgers will roll the dice and hope they can cue up Randy Newman crooning about another perfect day in LA by the end of it. Those stories are all still to be written.
The Yankees will sit at home, kick back, and root for extra innings in every game between now and Game 1 of the ALCS. Their work here is done.
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