D-Rob Made the Difference

Tuesday night's American League Wild Card game hardly went as expected. Who could have guessed that the starting pitchers would combine for 2-1/3 innings and 7 runs allowed. There were five home runs on the night -- three in the 1st inning alone! After a stunningly ineffective Luis Severino was tagged for a pair of homers in the top of the 1st, he was pulled by Joe Girardi -- after recording just one out.
That left the other 26 to the Yankees bullpen: Chad Green restored order during his two innings of work. David Robertson really drew a line in the sand, snuffing out the talented Twins batters while notching 10 crucial outs without allowing a run. He was followed by Tommy Kahnle and then Aroldis Chapman for the 9th inning. All told, the New York bullpen worked 8-2/3 innings and allowed one run and five hits and struck out 13! Robertson, who made the longest appearance of his career, carved out the middle of the game and was credited with the victory.
They don't award an MVP in the Wild Card round, but it was clear the man nicknamed D-Rob was the differencemaker. The Yankees beat the Twins 8 - 4, and move onto Cleveland to begin their Divisional Series matchup with the Indians in prime time at Progressive Field in Cleveland.          

(These images of Robertson are from a Yankees/Blue Jays game in June 2014.)

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