Their starting pitcher only got one out, so David Robertson and Co. filled the void in the wild-card game.
NEW YORK — David Robertson just pitched the greatest game of his postseason career, the hero in the New York Yankees’ 8-4 wild-card victory Tuesday over the Minnesota Twins, and all anyone wanted to talk about was that pitch.
That 84-mph knuckle-curve on a 3-2 count to Twins leadoff hitter Brian Dozier in the sixth inning.
The pitch that was a strike, a foul tip actually, caroming straight off the athletic supporter of catcher Gary Sanchez.
Sanchez crumbled to the ground, Robertson moaned, grabbed his own midsection as if he got hit, and squatted down as if he wanted to share the pain.
“I had a great view of it,’’ Robertson said late in the evening at his locker. “Tough shot. I know how it is. I got my cup on, and he fouled it right there. Not fun.
“It was like, ‘Poor Gary.’ ’’
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The center-field video board showed the replay, and the sellout crowd of 49,280 groaned right along with him.
Sanchez gingerly got up, squatted up and down a few times for good measure, stayed in the game, and by the end of the evening, didn’t seem to mind that he was the brunt of, well, you know, locker room talk.
“I didn’t know it got him in the cojones, man,’’ Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier said. “When he bounced up, it looked like he was dying.’’
It was that kind of evening in the Bronx where the Twins frightened the Yankees for, oh, about 20 minutes, until reality set in.
The Twins knocked out Yankees starter Luis Severino before he knew what happened, with a leadoff homer by Dozier, and three batters later, a two-run shot by Eddie Rosario that gave the Twins a 3-0 lead, and belief that the Yankees’ 15 years of menacing them finally was over.
Severino lasted just six batters, recording one out in the shortest start by a postseason pitcher in 17 years, and the Twins had runners on second and third with one out when Chad Green was summoned from the bullpen.
“I didn’t have a chance to be nervous,’’ Green said, “it kind of helped me out.’’
Green struck out Byron Buxton. And then Jason Castro. He kept the damage at 3-0 when the Yankees stepped to the plate to take their turns against Twins starter Ervin Santana.
“That,’’ Green said, “was a momentum changer right there.’’
It took all of four batters for the Yankees to tie the game, on Didi Gregorius’s three-run homer, and after a 50-minute first inning, they never looked back, watching their vaunted bullpen completely suffocate the Twins’ offense.
“When Chad Green comes in, and punches out the next two guys,’’ Yankees reliever Dellin Betances says, “that changed the magnitude of the game. It gave our guys confidence. We were able to put three on the board.
“From there, it was game over.’’
The Yankees, like they’ve done for 15 years now against the Twins, spent the rest of the four-hour game terrorizing them all over again, knocking Santana out of the game after two innings. It was the first time in a deciding postseason game that neither starter lasted past than two innings.
No matter: Yankees relievers struck out 13 over the next 8⅔ innings, tying the postseason record for the most strikeouts by a bullpen.
“The way that first inning went,’’ Frazier said, “it felt like an eternity. It was almost an hour [actually 50 minutes].
“But man, it was worth the wait.’’
The star of the show was Robertson, who was on the Yankees’ 2009 team that last won the World Series, went away to the Chicago White Sox, returned at the trade deadline, and produced the finest postseason relief performance by any Yankee since the great Mariano Rivera in the 1995 playoffs.
Robertson, who had pitched two innings just once in his major-league career, this night went 3⅓ innings, the longest outing of his 605-game career, giving up just three hits and striking out five batters. The last time he pitched any longer was nine years ago back when he was at Class AA Trenton.
“It was a lot of fun,’’ Robertson said. “I had a good time.’’
And for the 10th consecutive time, the Yankees beat the Twins in the postseason, winning all five playoff series, and extending the Twins’ overall playoff drought to 13 games, tied for the longest losing streak in Major League history.
The Yankees have now gone 90-33 against the Twins since 2002, with the longest postseason winning streak against a single team in the history of their franchise, which includes 27 World Series banners.
Now, the heavily-favored Indians await in the Division Series. The Indians knocked off the Yankees five times in seven games this year, with likely Cy Young winner Corey Kluber going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA against the Yankees this season, and Game 1 starter Trevor Bauer going 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA
“Is that who they’re picking?’’ Yankees starter CC Sabathia says. “That’s all right. Everybody in here thought we’d be right here where we’re at.
“Besides, look at this bullpen. We’ve got the best bullpen I’ve ever seen.’’
The Yankees will only have a one-day breather before they face the Indians in Cleveland. It’s unlikely the Yankees will have Robertson, Green or Tommy Kahnle, who pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings, until Game 2 of the series.
“I’ll have to see how I feel,’’ Robertson says. “To be honest with you, I haven’t thrown that much. Hell, I haven’t done it ever, so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow.’’
Yet, at least the Yankees know there will be a tomorrow.
Now, the Yankees say, the preliminary fight is over.
The real postseason can now begin.
“We’re ready,’’ Sabathia. “Bring it on.’’
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