Aaron Hicks Walks It Off And Sends The Yankees To The Postseason

Wooh!!! The Yankees are headed back to the postseason for the 54th time in franchise history. Have the last few months sucked? Without question, but it is a privilege to make the playoffs and this team deserves to celebrate tonight. I wasn’t sure how I felt going into today about a possible clinching celly, but you can’t take these moments for granted. It’s a long, long season and this team has a chance to win 100 games still and do plenty of damage in the postseason. Now that they’re in, they need to keep pushing the pedal to the metal and get that home field in the wild card game. If they go 5-3 the rest of the way, Oakland would have to go undefeated for us to have to travel to Oakland. I like our spot, but the schedule is not easy. After tomorrow’s game against the O’s, it’s four in Tampa and three in Boston. You would imagine the Sox will be resting some guys next weekend, but it still is never easy in Fenway.

As for tonight’s win, the bullpen won the game.

Chapman looked great, Dellin had his best outing in little while, Britton was nails, everyone did their job and it allowed the Yankees offense enough time to get the winning run across the plate. The bullpen has been very up and down of late and they collectively need to pitch like this if the Yanks want to have any success moving forward. It’s good that Hicks ripped that double when he did because Sonny Gray was warming up to come in. I didn’t need to endure that.

King Louis Voit came up big again on both sides of the ball today. His solo shot in the 2nd gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Clearly this 430 feet shot off the Toyota sign was a Yankee Stadium home run and would never have escaped the terrifying confines of Fenway Park. Never!

Voit came up huge in the 10th when the O’s loaded the bases, threatening to take the lead in the 10th. Chris Davis lined a hot shot to the right of the Yankee first baseman who made a great catch, saving what would have been a back-breaking two run base hit. Instead it allowed Holder to houdini his way out of trouble and keep the game tied.

The legend of Louis Voit grows by the day. To think back in June he was struggling for at bats in St. Louis at the age of 27. At that point in your career you have to wonder if you’ll ever get your chance to prove your worth on the field. Well, that’s when Brian Cashman came calling, traded Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos for Voit and gave him all he wanted, a chance. A few months later he’s one of, if not the, hottest hitters in baseball, helping lead the New York Yankees to the postseason. His energy is contagious and he has made Greg Bird a complete after-thought. I love him.

Buy this shirt, Voit has given it his own personal approval.

Let’s sweep tomorrow.