Yankees tie MLB home run record, secure home field in AL wild-card game
The American League postseason field is set in stone.
The final pieces were put in place Friday when the New York Yankees clinched home-field advantage in the AL wild-card game for the second straight year after defeating the Boston Red Sox, 11-6.
New York will host the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Yankees have been slugging there way to victory after victory this season. The Yankees need one more victory to reach 100 wins for the first time since 2009. They also need just one more home run to break the MLB team record. Aaron Judge hit New York’s 264th on Friday, which tied the 1997 Seattle Mariners.
Aaron Judge's 8th inning HR is Yankees 264th this season, tied with 1997 Mariners for the MLB single-season record.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) September 29, 2018
How important is home-field advantage in a wild-card game?
It’s a very small sample size, but so far home field hasn’t been a true advantage in wild-card games. Home and road teams have split the first six wild-card games on the AL side. The Yankees are 1-1, having defeated the Minnesota Twins last season. They lost at home to the Houston Astros in 2015.
The A’s are 0-1 in wild-card games. They lost on the road against the Kansas City Royals in 2014.
NL teams are 2-4 hosting the wild-card game. Home teams are 10-10 all-time in playoff tiebreakers, which is essentially what the wild-card games are.
History suggests the wild-card game can go either way, and we dare say both teams play this season suggests the same thing. The teams split their six-game season series, with each team winning two of three at home. The Yankees 53 home wins this season were the second most in MLB, but the A’s 46 road wins are tied for third most.
Complete AL postseason picture
The AL’s top three seeds were already locked in before Friday. The Red Sox have home-field throughout the entire playoffs, and will host the winner of the AL wild-card game in the American League Division Series beginning on Friday.
The Houston Astros will host the Cleveland Indians in the other ALDS.
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