Luis García Jr. makes first playoff start count in big way in Yankees drubbing

It took seven seasons and 751 regular-season games for Luis García Jr. to get his first shot as a starter in a playoff game. 

It then took all of two at-bats Wednesday for the slugger to make it count. 

García, who had spent his career with the Nationals until the trade deadline and had never played a postseason game before pinch hitting Tuesday, earned the start a night later and immediately demonstrated why he always is in the lineup against opposing right-handers. 

The ice-breaking swing of what would become a 9-2, going-away blowout of the Red Sox to clinch the wild-card series belonged to García, who made sure his first trip to October (or technically late September) would be memorable. 

In a scoreless game in the fourth inning with former Yankee Sonny Gray dealing, García stepped to the plate and stepped up. He got a 1-2 sweeper that was not poorly located — right at the bottom of the strike zone — but showed off a violent swing and rare power, clubbing the pitch 387 feet into the bleachers in right-center to begin another strong night for the Yankees offense. 

When the Yankees traded for García, the fit did not look natural. He was another first baseman on a team that had two (Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt) or maybe a DH on a team that was awaiting a return from its DH (Giancarlo Stanton). 

But a swing like García’s, which produced 30 total homers this season and seven after the trade, will be shoehorned into lineups regardless. And further injuries, such as another calf strain to Stanton, ensured García would be a factor either way. 

While sitting against lefty Payton Tolle on Tuesday, García looked around and breathed in an atmosphere he had never experienced before. 

“The experience is very different, actually — just seeing the atmosphere around the ballpark, the fans standing from pitch one all the way to the end, very different,” García said Wednesday afternoon through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “At the same time, very exciting. You can feel the excitement in the air.” 

Also in the air was a home run and a pair of singles in the fifth and sixth innings, including a rare left-on-left knock against Erik Miller on a play that ended with Ben Rice gunned down at the plate. 

Given a chance — a first in the series and a first in his career — García did some of everything to ensure he would have more playoff chances this weekend.