Yankees' Garcia raves about postseason atmosphere in the Bronx

The Yankees’ Luis Garcia Jr. made the first postseason appearance of his seven seasons when he pinch hit in Tuesday’s 9-0 AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox at the Stadium.

The lefthanded-hitting Garcia is getting his first postseason start Wednesday in Game 2 against Boston righthander Sonny Gray, playing first base and batting third.

For his career, Garcia is 4-for-10 against Gray with one home run and six RBIs.

Asked about being a part of the postseason and sport’s biggest rivalry, Garcia replied through an interpreter, “Being able to go out there and be part of the playoffs, go out and represent the Yankees, it feels great. And just hoping that I'm able to go out there and do the little things that can help us keep winning.”

Garcia Jr. had an .873 OPS with 23 home runs and 76 RBIs in 104 with the Nationals when the Yankees acquired him on Aug. 3 to help lift an inconsistent offense. In the 43 regular season games with the Yankees, he had an .736 OPS with seven homers and 16 RBIs.

With a .864 OPS against righthanded pitchers this season, he has made for a very effective platoon with lefty-killer Paul Goldschmidt.

He wasn’t on the field much Tuesday, but Garcia was looking forward to being out there for Wednesday’s potential series clincher. Playing in the postseason was a topic since he got traded.

“There were all those conversations [but], actually, the experience is very different,” he said. “Just seeing the atmosphere around the ballpark, the fans standing from pitch one all the way to the end, was very different. . . You can feel the excitement in the air, if you will.”

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.