You play 162 games, just to get into the postseason, and when you finally make it, it's an unbelievable feeling. But that feeling can come with a little bit of disappointment if you don't win your division, because if you don't win that, you have to fight off at least 11 other teams, for one of the last 2 playoff spots, which are called " Wildcards". well, which one is the best Wildcard? We will find out tonight, as the Yankees take on the red-hot Oakland Athletics, in the win or go home Wild Card game tonight at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees earned home-field advantage for tonight's game, by edging out the A's in the regular season by three games, 100 wins, to 97 wins.

Before I give you guys my prediction, let's take a look at how these two teams got here.

A'S:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Moneyball has returned! Nobody expected much from the A's, as they came into this season with the lowest payroll in the league ( $66M), and looked like they would be on a massive rebuild, nope. after starting the season, as the team we all expected them to be at 34-36 , Oakland went on an absolute tear the rest of the way, even almost stealing the AL West title from the defending world champion Houston Astros! This 63-29 run was keyed on offense by Khris Davis who came out of nowhere, and lead the league with 48 HRs, this season! Davis is backed by studs, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Marcus Semien, Matt Andreson, Jed Lowrie, Stephen Piscotty, Jonothan Lucroy, and Ramon Laureano.

As for the pitching, ace Sean Manea was sensational this year for the A's, but unfortunately, he had to have season-ending surgery, in the middle of the year, making him unavailable, for tonight's Wildcard game.

In my opinion, if Sean had stayed healthy, he would most likely be in the conversation, for the CY Young award this season, that's ho good he was!

The A's shrugged off this loss and got journeymen Mike Fiers, Edwin Jackson, Trevor Cahill, including rookie Brett Anderson, to beef up their starting rotation.

So far it's worked well, as Mike Fiers has only lost 2 games, as a member of the Oakland Athletics, while the other 3 ( Especially Jackson, and Cahill), have been very reliable during this run.

When Oakland's starters needs a rest, they have no problem going to their bullpen, as it is by far the deepest in the league, which is one of the reasons why the A's will go with an " Opener" for tonight's game.

Liam Hendricks has been very good at doing that, which is why he will get the nod to start the game tonight.

But be warned, Hendricks will be followed by, Daniel Mendegen, Ryan Butcher, Lou Trivino , Yusmeiro Petit, Jeurys Familia, Fernando Rodney, and Shawn Kelly. Oh, and did I mention, that the A's closer is Blake Treinin, who has an insane 0.78 ERA, and is only a rookie? Crazy, but true!

So there are your underdogs the Oakland Athletics!

STATS TO KNOW:

The A's are a better team on the road.

An "opener" is when a reliever starts the game and retires the top of the order

The A’s are 69-2 when leading after 7 innings this season.

YANKEES:

It has been a roller coaster ride so far, the Yankees came into this year with World Series aspirations. after all, they fell one win short of the World Series last year, and then acquired reigning MVP, Giancarlo Stanton, to go along with Rookie of the year Aaron Judge, the Yankees looked unstoppable.

After a slow 9-9 start, the Yankees went on a tear, and won 17 out of their next 18 games ( these wins came against first place teams , the Indians , Red Sox , Astros , and playoff caliber teams , like the Angles) , and rocketed to the top of the standings in the Al East, and never really looked back until July. Injuries came and really hurt the Yankees, as Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez,and Aroldis Chapman all went down. But the rise of Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres , and Luke Voit helped keep the Yankees in the playoff race until the stars fully came back, and when they did, the Yankees closed the season on an absolute tear, going 10-4, getting to 100 wins,( surpassing expectations), and even breaking the single-season HR record by 3 Hrs with 267!

The reason why the Yankees are in this game is that the Boston Red Sox had 108 wins, a franchise record.

The HRs have mostly come from Giancarlo Stanton (38), Miguel Andujar, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, ( all with 27), Gleyber Torres (24(, and Luke Voit (14).

As for the pitching, trade acquisition, JA Happ, along with Masahiro Tanaka, and Luis Severino all have been mostly reliable this season for the Bombers, but Yankees manger Aaron Boone decided to give Luis Severino ( Who is ranked 3rd out of those pitchers , in many peoples opinions) the start in tonight’s game . I understand, the decision by Boone, Severino is very good at home, and despite a forgettable second half, he has been the Yankees ace overall this season.

As for the bullpen, they are one of the best in the league ,when they are at the top of their game , with Chad Green , Jonathan Holder Delin Betances , Trade acquisition, Zach Brittion, and Aroldis Chapman.

We have arguably the two best bullpens in the league in this game tonight!

Stats to know :

The Yankees are 53-28 at home this season! Second in the MLB behind the Houston Astros 58-23)

Luke Voit leads the league with 13 HRs since August 12th. Second place is Stephen Piscotty of the Oakland Athletics.

Luke , only played 39 games this regular season with the Cardinals and Yankees.

Voit was this past weeks player of the Week!

Time for predictions!

Offensive edge : Yankees:

The A’s have a better batting average, but the Yankees have more HRs (267-227), and Yankee Stadium is a hitters park, got to give a slight edge to the Yankees here, the A’s do have some power, so watch out !

Defensive edge : A’s : The Yankees have made 93 errors this year , to the A’s 88, plus there have been a lot of passed balls for the Bombers

Pitching: Yankees ever so slightly; Yes we are including the bullpen, but the Yankees have 3 starters in the bullpen tonight, so If this game goes a long way , I give the Yankees the edge .

But if it’s a short game , I give the A’s the edge , but overall I’ll go with the Yankees here , it’s a starter vs an Opener.

Winner: Yankees: Should be a good game , I give the Yankees a 53% chance to win this game , I think they will take it like 5-3 or something like that, but it will be a close game , plus that crowd at Yankee Stadium is electric!!

Who do you guys think will win tonight’s game ?

https://www.strawpoll.me/16575031

Date October 3rd

Game : AL Wildcard game

Teams : A’s vs Yankees

Time :8:00 PM EST

TV: TBS

Update :

A’s reliver Daniel Mendegen has been sent to Arizona to warm up for a potential ALDS start agaInst the Boston Red Sox, assuming Oakland overtakes the Yankees tonight.