Yankees Hot Corner – Yankees sweep the Twins in ALDS

It wasn’t easy in Game Three, but it certainly wasn’t hard. The Yankees took a yeoman-like approach in their three game sweep, especially in Game Three. With the sweep of the Twins, the Yankees will move on to the ALCS to face the winner of the Houston Astros/Tampa Bay Rays series.

Luis Severino was nails for four innings even though he didn’t have his best stuff. Four hits and a shutout appearance was enough to bring it to the bullpen, which struggled at times but kept the Twins out of reach all game.

The turning point of the game was when Severino somehow was able to wiggle his way out of a bases loaded, no out jam. He was able to get a pop-up in the infield and two strikeouts to get out of the inning.

Gleyber Torres started the scoring with a solo home run that just got over the left field wall. Gio Urshela hit a double in the second and Brett Gardner drove him home on a dribbler towards third base that was just out of the range of Miguel Sano. If Sano had stayed where he originally was positioned, it would have been an out.

Didi Gregorius ripped a grounder down the first base line to make the game 3-0. Eddie Rosario hit a solo home run off of Zack Britton in the eighth to tighten things up, but a solo homer by defensive replacement Cameron Maybin and another Didi Gregorius RBI single put the game out of reach.

Aroldis Chapman struggled with command once again but a spectacular diving catch by Didi Gregorius and two strikeouts put the game and series away.

Defense was the name of the game in Game Three as a few plays stick out in the Yankees’ victory; Gleyber Torres made an excellent play to prevent a Eddie Rosario single from sneaking through the right side of the infield. Torres was playing in the outfield when Polanco snuck one past D.J. Lemahieu. Gleyber looped around after fielding it and fired a ball to Lemahieu.

The other two plays that stuck out tonight were Aaron Judge’s leaping grab in the bottom of the sixth which could have easily been a double if the Yankees didn’t have a 6’7 right fielder. The icing on the cake was a diving Didi Gregorius catch with two men on base and no outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Aaron Boone used his bullpen extensively in all three games and Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman kept the Twins from rallying. It wasn’t pretty but it got the job done.