The Yankees will try to launch another World Series run Wednesday night, when they play in the do-or-die AL Wild Card Game against the Oakland A's.
AL Wild Card Game? What's that?
MLB's two leagues – the American and National League – have three divisions. The winner of each division in each league makes the playoffs and starts playoff play in the Division Series.
MLB changed from a two-division format to a three-division format in 1994, but there was no postseason that year because of the players' strike. When the postseason returned in 1995, the number of playoff teams expanded from four to eight.
In addition to the three division winners, the team that had the best record of teams that did not win a division now also qualified for the playoffs as a "wild card." They played the team with the best record in their league in the best-of-5 Division Series (unless that team was in the same division as them; in that case, they played the division winner with the second-best record.)
Starting in 2012, MLB awarded wild card berths to the TWO teams in each league that had the best record of teams that did not win a division. Those two teams play one game against each other, and the winner moves on to the Division Series. (The restriction that prevented a team from playing another team from their division in the Division Series has since been lifted.)
Since the Yankees finished with the best record of an AL team that did not win a division, they get to host this year's AL Wild Card Game.
This is actually the third time the Yankees are playing in the AL Wild Card Game. They beat the Minnesota Twins in last year's AL Wild Card Game, and lost to the Houston Astros in 2015. Both of those games were also played at Yankee Stadium.
When and where is the game?
The game starts at 8:08 p.m. Wednesday and will be played at Yankee Stadium.
How did the Yankees do this season?
The Yankees won 100 games this season and lost 62. It was the first time they won 100 games or more since 2009 – which is the last time they won a World Series – but they lost out on a division title as the Boston Red Sox won 108 games to top the AL East.
Who are they playing?
The Yankees are playing the Oakland A's. Oakland went 97-65 and finished second in the AL West behind the Astros.
Who will the starting pitchers be?
The Yankees will start Luis Severino, a two-time All-Star.
Severino started last year's Wild Card game for the Yankees. It did not go well for him: he only recorded one out, and left the game with the Yankees trailing 3-0. (The Yankees came back to win.)
Oakland, meanwhile, is using an unconventional "starting pitcher" strategy that several teams have adopted in 2018. They are starting a relief pitcher, Liam Hendriks.
Most teams wish for a starting pitcher to pitch deep into a game. But Hendriks pitched no more than 1 2/3 innings in eight "starts" in September, and he is expected to have a similar workload Wednesday night. The A's will rely on several other pitchers out of the bullpen to fill in those additional innings.
What happens to the winning team?
The winning team will move on to face the Red Sox in the American League Division Series, which is a best 3-out-of-5 series. Game 1 will be in Boston on Friday night.