In the bottom of the third inning of Saturday's ALDS Game 2, the Yankees had the Twins on the ropes.
Leading 3-0, the Bombers had already knocked starter Randy Dobnak out of the game.
Then, Didi Gregorius provided the knockout punch.
With the bases loaded and one out, Gregorius laid off an 0-2 pitch in the dirt, checking his swing just enough to not get wrung up. With a 1-2 count, Gregorius launched a ball to right field, landing just inside the foul pole for a grand slam off of reliever Tyler Duffey.
Didi hit that ball to Duluth 😱 (via @YESNetwork) pic.twitter.com/E7jIEFRUFd
- Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 5, 2019
"Didi's one of the leaders on this team," teammate Aaron Judge said after the game. "No matter what the stats say, no matter what people say, he's a leader and he's always going to come through in big situations when we need him.
"In the postseason, man, he's a killer."
Gregorius took an extra second or two to watch the ball leave the park, and afterwards he explained that he was thinking about his previous at-bats against Duffey.
"I knew it was fair. But I was just thinking back to my at-bats I had against him yesterday, and after I got two strikes he threw me that fastball, and I was prepared for it this time, after he threw me that curveball in the dirt," Gregorius said. "I was ready for it this time, and that's why my reaction was like that."
With one mighty swing, the Yankees extended their lead to 7-0. They'd tack on one more, making it a seven-run third inning, giving them a commanding 8-0 lead through three frames. The seven runs in a single inning set a Yankees postseason record.
Now with a commanding 2-0 series lead, Gregorius and the Yankees may have just taken all of the air out of the Twins balloon, and while Gregorius didn't have a great regular season, spending most of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery, his hard work paid off on Saturday night.
"I've been doing the same work I've done since I got here, didn't try to change anything, just try to swing at strikes," said Gregorius. "That's the one thing for me right now, and be patient. ... Be aggressive, but in the strike zone. That's what I'm trying to do right now."