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The New York Yankees won 100 games this year, while the Oakland Athletics have won 51 since July 1st (second only to the historically-good Boston Red Sox). A case could be made that these are two of the five best teams in the league. But on Wednesday night one of them will go home.
The AL Wild Card game is scheduled to start at 8:08 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on TBS. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can still watch a live stream of the game (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
TBS is one of 85 channels included in the main Fubo bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch the game up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it or signed up late.
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including TBS. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
TBS is included in both the “Sling Orange” and the “Sling Blue” channel packages. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of either, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Preview
Luis Severino, who will get the start Wednesday night as the Yankees look to set up an ALDS matchup of epic proportions against the Red Sox, has been in this spot before. He was given the ball in last year’s AL Wild Card game against the Twins, and it went about as poorly as could be imagined. He faced six batters, allowed four hits (two of them home runs), walked one, and recorded just one out before leaving with a 3-0 deficit.
What’s more, the 24-year-old really struggled during the second half of this season. At the All-Star break, he owned a 14-2 record with a 2.31 ERA and an opponent slash line of .209/.263/.316. In the 12 games following the break, he went 5-6 with a 5.57 ERA, while opponents slashed .291/.331/.490 against him.
Despite last year’s blowup, and despite the second-half inconsistency, the Yankees have complete trust in their ace.
“Really excited to give him the ball tomorrow,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday. “I feel like after some bumps in the road, certainly the second half of the season, he’s turned a corner and really started to throw the ball better. I think he’s ready for this.”
It’s true that Severino began to recover down the stretch. In his final three starts, he compiled a 2.04 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
The Athletics, meanwhile, will take a much different approach to Wednesday’s win-or-go-home game.
Going with a strategy that has risen in popularity this season, manager Bob Melvin will hand the ball to “opener” Liam Hendriks. He’ll likely pitch just the first inning before the A’s go to the bullpen. Oakland, who has had a litany of injuries to starting pitchers this year, went with this strategy nine times in September. They went just 5-4 in those games but had a team ERA of 1.86.
It all makes for a very compelling matchup, and when you throw in the win-or-go-home nature of the game, it’s must-see TV.