This nightmare could become Yankees' playoff destiny

by Felix Pantaleon

The Yankees look destined for a one-game AL Wild Card tilt in October. The opponent could become a nightmare matchup. The Yankees begin play on Wednesday, August 15, 2018 (8/15/18) 10 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East and 3.5 games ahead of the Oakland A’s for the first American League Wild Card.

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The reality of the 2018 Yankees season can be described in two ways:

-An excellent team on pace to win over 100 games, complete a wonderful regular season and owning excellent odds to win it all.

-A team destined to fall short of its ultimate goal: Winning a championship.

With the Boston Red Sox now 51 games over .500 and 10 games up in the AL East standings, the idea of the Yankees coming back to win the division become more impossible to believe on a daily basis. Time (and the Red Sox) are likely simply too much to overcome in this division–barring a miracle or rash of injuries.

That leaves the American League Wild Card Game as New York’s route into the true dance, and likely a five-game series against the Red Sox in early October. While that’s the path the Yankees took to enter the dance last season, this year’s battle figures to be much more difficult than going through an upstart Twins team.

If the matchup is with the Seattle Mariners or Oakland Athletics, that would be true. But if it’s with the Houston Astros, an entirely different task awaits the Yankees. And yes, that possibility now looks more and more likely.

World Series odds

With the Astros struggling, the A’s (1 GB) and Mariners (4.5 GB) are both threats to overtake Houston in the AL West. That could set up the defending champion Astros as New York’s competition in a do-or-die playoff game.

While the Yankees try to figure out what’s wrong with ace Luis Severino, the Astros could roll out Justin Verlander to knock the Yankees out. Verlander, the veteran who was dealt to Houston last August, owns a 2.52 ERA and a career-high strikeout rate of 11.9 per nine innings this season.

Joe Giglio may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.