The Yankees' comeback was a once-in-92-year phenomenon


The New York Yankees pulled their starting pitcher from the American League wild card game against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning Tuesday, after Luis Severino gave up three runs and four hits. Severino is only the 17th starting pitcher to notch one or fewer outs in a postseason game, Deadspin reports. The Yankees, though, made baseball history by overcoming the odds to win the one-game playoff 8-4, becoming only the second team to win a postseason game with a starting pitcher earning one or fewer outs, and the first team to do so since 1925.
"Across all the years for the Yankees, on either side of 161st Street, the Yankees had never won a postseason game when their starting pitcher was only able to get them one out," the New York Daily News writes. "They had done everything else in October. They had never done that. Until they did it against the Twins on Tuesday night, in a game they finally ended up winning 8-4, and winning themselves a trip to Cleveland in the process."
The Yankees will begin their best-of-five series against the Cleveland Indians on Thursday at Progressive Field in Ohio. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies will play the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League wild card game Wednesday night at 8:08 p.m. ET. Read how the wild card game might have broken baseball at The Week.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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