2018 AL Wild Card Game
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The 2018 American League Wild Card Game was a
play-in game A play-in game ...
during
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's (MLB) 2018 postseason contested between the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
's (AL) two
wild card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
teams, the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and the
Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
. The game took place at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
on October 3, starting at 8:08 pm EDT. The Yankees won, 7–2, and advanced to face the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
in the
American League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...
. This game started a part of the postseason where TBS broadcast postseason games because of the
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's contract holdout with Optimum. Said holdout would continue until the
2018 World Series The 2018 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's 2018 Major League Baseball season, 2018 season. The 114th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League ( ...
.


Background

New York entered the game with a 100–62 record, while Oakland was 97–65. They met six times during the regular season, with each team winning three times. This was New York's seventh playoff appearance as a wild card team. Since MLB's addition of a second wild card team in 2012, the Yankees had previously appeared in two
Wild Card Game The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was instituted in 2012. This became a best ...
s, a loss in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
and a win in
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
. The Yankees' appearance represented the first time a 100-win team played in a Wild Card Game. The most recent time that a 100-win team had not won their division was the 2001 Athletics. This was Oakland's third playoff appearance as a wild card team. They had previously appeared in one Wild Card Game, a loss in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. This was the fourth time the Yankees and A's met in postseason play—the Yankees had won the three prior meetings: the
1981 ALCS The 1981 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five 1981 Major League Baseball postseason, playoff baseball series in Major League Baseball's 1981 Major League Baseball postseason, 1981 postseason played between the American League Ea ...
(3–0), 2000 ALDS (3–2), and
2001 ALDS The 2001 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the American League side in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 2001 MLB Postseason, 2001 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 9, and ended on Monday, October 15, with the champio ...
(3–2).


Game results


Line score

Luis Severino was the
starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
for the Yankees, while the Athletics used
Liam Hendriks Liam Johnson Hendriks (born 10 February 1989) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, ...
as an
opener Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to: * Opener (album), ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm * Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game * Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland ...
. The Yankees scored two runs in the first inning, as
Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a six-time MLB All-Star and two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP ...
hit a two-run homer off of Hendriks. The Yankees added four runs in the sixth, on back-to-back doubles by Judge and
Aaron Hicks Aaron Michael Hicks (born October 2, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles ...
, followed by a walk to
Giancarlo Stanton Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton (born November 8, 1989), formerly known as Mike Stanton, is an American professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in ML ...
and a triple by
Luke Voit Louis Linwood Voit III (born February 13, 1991) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New Yor ...
. In the eighth inning,
Khris Davis Khristopher Adrian Davis (born December 21, 1987), nicknamed “Khrush”, is an American former professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and ...
hit a two-run home run for Oakland and Stanton hit a home run for New York.


References


Further reading

*


External links


2018 Major League Baseball postseason schedule
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