Bob LeveyLate Saturday night, after the Yankees and Astros both took a 2-0 lead in their divisional series (against the Twins and Rays, respectively), I tried to pinpoint the exact moment when each series was capital-O Over. Sure, as I write this on Sunday afternoon, neither series is technically “over” yet, but they're Over all the same…and everyone knows it.
For the Yankees, it wasn't a difficult question. They came into the series with 10 straight playoff wins against Minnesota dating back to god knows when, and the postseason relationship between the teams had practically become abusive. With the Yankees holding homefield edge in the five-game series, the Twins clearly needed to get the road split and avoid heading back home down 0-2. They lost game one, and hope was finally drained empty in game two, in the third inning, when Didi Gregorius hit a grand slam home run to make it 7-0 Yankees. Considering the strength of the Yankee bullpen, and with the starter Tanaka look..