Yankees Escape Cleveland And Show Not Every Postseason Game Is A Masterpiece

It took four hours, 50 minutes, a little over six if you factor in two rain delays. There were a combined 19 walks, 388 pitches and a combined 92 plate appearances.

It was not a work of art, but not every postseason game is going to be a masterpiece and a vast majority are escape acts like the one the Yankees pulled off sometime around 1:15 am Thursday when Aroldis Chapman struck out Austin Hedges to secure a 10-9 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the American League wild-card series.

The comeback and escape act sent the Yankees to San Diego for another shot at the Tampa Bay Rays in a five-game American League Division Series to prove that the Rays are not actually their kryptonite and prove a bad regular-season record is irrelevant like it was for the 1988 Dodgers against the Mets.

“I don’t know how you top that one — the back and forth, the amount of big plays,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Ultimately it will be a game that probably gets aired numerous times on YES Network’s Yankee Classics during the offseason.

“I think it’s another notch on the belt, another notch of experience for these guys in tough situations,” Boone said.

Boone said those comments after escaping the marathon with a few of his managerial decisions backfiring and ultimately becoming somewhat of an afterthought when DJ LeMahieu continued his spectacular season with tiebreaking single in the ninth off Brad Hand, doing so on an 0-2 slider after getting two fastballs.

One was leaving Masahiro Tanaka in a little too long. Tanaka settled into a groove after allowing a four-run first by retiring 10 of the next 11 but the case could be made he should have left on a good note and given Chad Green a clean inning.

Green allowed a two-run double to Jose Ramirez on a curveball and then was lifted for Zack Britton, a move that was fine since the Yankees are trying to avoid a third game. Britton put two on in the seventh and was up to 24 and although he only had two at-bats beyond 25 pitches in the regular season, the case could be made for him staying in the game instead of inserting Jonathan Loaisiga.

And the case could be made for wondering where Adam Ottavino was. Sure Ottavino’s second season of a three-year contract was not as good as his first with a 5.89 ERA compared to 1.90 last season. That figure can be skewed by one bad outing in Buffalo on Labor Day but he allowed one run in his last seven appearances.

The move for Loaisiga almost worked out when he got ahead of pinch hitter Jordan Luplow on two fastballs. Then he threw a curve for ball one and another one that wound up deflecting off the center field wall.

Ultimately, those moves which easily would have been dissected in all corners had the Yankees not rallied, did not come back to haunt. They merely prolonged the game, which was the most compelling of the four AL postseason games and ultimately delivered a significantly better outcome for Boone than the night of Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS when he left Luis Severino too long in a 16-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

And it was a game that offered some peak 2020 moments and the latest in a long line of classic Yankee postseason wins, many that probably are not masterpieces when instantly dissected.

This year has tested teams like no other due to various protocols and it seems fitting a game like this advances the Yankees in the postseason.

Now comes the next part of putting those frustrating regular-season showings against the Rays behind them.

“That was one of the best games I’ve played in my life,” Gio Urshela said.

Truer words have never been spoken even it was not a masterpiece or a Picasso.