Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 708 37: Song of Victory

This season, Buxton, who has solidified his position with the Twins, has excelled this year, especially with his outstanding athletic ability and defensive skills, making him one of the best center fielders in the entire American League—over the past season, Buxton made the most catches in Major League Baseball and is the top candidate for the Golden Glove Award.

In the current half-inning, Buxton made a splendid play by catching a strong fly ball hit by Yankees first baseman Greg Bird towards central field, preventing the Twins from suffering a greater loss.

Nevertheless, after the first half-inning, the visiting Twins already trailed by a large score of 0-4, and their hopes of advancing to the division series to face the Cleveland Indians were becoming increasingly dim.

What made it even more despairing was that after barely surviving this nightmare-like half-inning, the Twins' batters had to immediately face the formidable defense constructed by Lin Guanglai and the Yankees fielders, an experience devastatingly cruel for them.

"Strikeout!", "Strikeout!!", "Another strikeout!!!"

For 22-year-old Lin Guanglai this rookie season, his performance stats are already historical: whether it's traditional wins, strikeout numbers, or advanced stats like wins above replacement, Lin Guanglai's performance this season rivals those of Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson at their peak.

With a huge gap in the strength between the opposing teams and the Twins having lost their strongest batter, Lin Guanglai's dominance on the mound was maximized, as even the center of the Twins' lineup couldn't stir any trouble before him, leading to one strikeout after another requiring them to accept being retired.

Two innings, six strikeouts, the giant banner "Linvicible" floated once again in the sky above the Bronx; the process was so effortless that, from the viewers' perspective, the Twins' batters seemingly offered little resistance before being struck out by Lin Guanglai.

In the Yankees' players area, Joe Girardi, who initially worried about unexpected events in this game and kept watch at the door of the players' section without blinking, completely relaxed and returned to his seat—saying something Twins fans might not like, just from watching these two innings, he was ready to start studying the next round opponents, the Indians.

With such outstanding lineup performance and Lin Guanglai solidly occupying the pitcher's mound, victory in this game for the Yankees was virtually assured!

Thanks to Lin Guanglai's dominance on the mound and powerful strikeout ability, Yankees batters didn't need to expend much on defense, instead concentrating all their energy and stamina on offense:

In the second inning, the Yankees' lineup rotation again showcased their bomber-like powerful hitting: Brett Gardner, who secured a walk in the first round, hit a solo home run 393 feet to right field, adding another point for the team;

Lin Guanglai, on his second at-bat of the game, continued his stellar performance from the first at-bat with a 2-run homer to right field, bringing himself and Aaron Judge from the bases, expanding the score to 7:0.

As the game progressed, the score gap continued to widen: 8-0, 9-0, 10-0... the gap quickly stretched to one that made the Minnesota Twins players and fans despair, hoping this torment would end soon.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, marked by Aaron Judge's 2-RBI home run, this sudden-death American League Wild Card game ended with a score of 14:0;

In the top of the ninth inning, Yankees' closer Aroldis Chapman used a fastball clocked at 103 mph, located on the lower outer corner of the strike zone, to strike out Twins' third batter Jorge Polanco, and put a perfect end to the game.

"Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeee Yankeeeeeees wiiiiiin!"

As Chapman's pitch flew past home plate and the umpire declared the game over, John Sterling, the legendary broadcaster who has narrated Yankees games for nearly 30 years, once again let out his characteristic cheer—over the past two decades, each time the Yankees won, Sterling would wrap up the game with these words; it is this phrase that accompanied generations of Yankees fans' growth and witnessed the Yankee dynasty's 8 World Series appearances and 5 championship trophies.

Yankee Stadium in the Bronx roared again, and if this stadium had a roof, the crowd's enthusiasm would definitely pierce a hole in the sky.

The broadcast camera sweeps over the players on the field, Aaron Judge excitedly runs from the outfield toward home plate, with a smile characteristic of young people on his face; Didi Gregorius jumps up, celebrating with a chest bump with his second base partner Castro.

Finally, the camera settles on Lin Guanglai slowly walking out from the players' section in the back of the crowd: October in New York has a bit of chill, especially with today's night game, Lin Guanglai, who finished pitching after seven innings, had already put on a warm coat and was leisurely chewing gum, laughing and chatting with his teammates beside him.