Five of ESPN.coms MLB beat writers who cover teams battling for wild-card berths were asked to make a case for why their team will be playing a do-or-die playoff game in October. Below, Andrew Marchand argues for the New York Yankees?against fellow writers Eddie Matz (Baltimore Orioles), Mark Saxon (St. Louis Cardinals), Katie Strang (Detroit Tigers) and Adam Rubin (New York Mets).For more on the other contenders, check out?Wild-card Wednesday.Marchand: For those who think the Yankees will take the wild card, the logic is simple -- they are playing as well as anyone in baseball right now. Despite the fact they have a brutal schedule, those who believe the Yankees will succeed think that going 13-5 in their final 18 games will be no problem. I tend to doubt the Yankees can get to the 89 or 90 wins it will take to win a wild card, but if they go into their final three games against the Orioles with a chance to make the playoffs, that will be a pretty significant accomplishment in itself.Matz: If Marchand himself cant even defend the team he covers (I tend to doubt the Yankees ...), then theres no need for me to pile on. My work here is done.Saxon: Remind me not to hire you if Im looking for someone to sell my house. Those who believe? You were supposed to believe, Andrew. That was the assignment! Since you dont, I dont either.Strang: I imagine the sort of success the Yankees have had since selling off assets at the trade deadline isnt something anyone would have predicted, but eventually the joyride must end. Youth and inexperience will leave the Yanks exposed as the playoff race heats up, with a slew of games against divisional opponents also desperate to nail down a playoff spot.Rubin: Gary Sanchez might be a nice story, but the Yankees simply do not have the pitching horses to get to the 89 to 90 wins it will take to earn a wild-card spot in the American League this year. Furthermore, while playing the teams ahead of them in the standings in a simple sense might seem like an opportunity, it realistically means the Yankees have too steep an uphill battle.Wholesale Cardinals Jerseys . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Gussie Busch Cardinals Jersey . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/74t-gussie-busch-jersey-cardinals.html . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Harrison Bader Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. John Gant Jersey . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup.WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic head the direct entry lists for this years U.S. Open.Williams will aim to break the record she currently shares with Steffi Graf for most Grand Slam titles in the Open era, while Djokovic will seek to reach his sixth final in the past seven years at Flushing Meadows.The fields announced by the U.S. Tennis Association on Wednesday include the top 98 members of this weeks ATP rankings, and 101 of the top 103 in the WTA rankings. The two women missing: 2006 U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova, who is serving a doping ban that she is appealing, and two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka, who recently announced she is pregnant.Williams has won six of her 22 major singles championships at the U.S. Open, most recently in 2014. Last year, her bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended with a semifinal loss in New York against Roberta Vinci. Other past womens champions at Flushing Meadows who are on the direct entry list: Williams sister Venus, Samantha Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova.Three women are using aa special ranking to get into the field: Peng Shuai, Galina Voskoboeva and Vitalia Diatchenko.ddddddddddddThere are five past U.S. Open champions in the mens field: Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Marin Cilic.Six men got into the field with a protected ranking: Julien Benneteau, Janko Tipsarevic, Brian Baker, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Dmitry Tursunov and Jerzy Janowicz.Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 champion, is entered as an alternate, meaning his ranking is too low for direct entry and he would need a wild-card invitation to participate. Because of a series of operations on his left wrist, he hasnt competed at the U.S. Open since 2013.Eight men and eight women will receive wild cards from the USTA, while 16 men and 16 women will get into the field via qualifying rounds in August.The main draw for the years last Grand Slam tournament begins Aug. 29, with the womens singles final on Sept. 10, and the mens on Sept. 11. ' ' '