Indians-Yankees ALDS Game 3: The Greg Bird home run that was the difference

Bird did the unthinkable, taking Andrew Miller deep

Cleveland Indians left-handed reliever Andrew Miller is tough on all batters, but especially lefty hitters. Imagine everyone's surprise, then, when New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird jumped the fence on Miller with a clutch seventh-inning home-run in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Sunday night (GameTracker).

Or, you know -- let your imagine relax and just watch the highlight:

HOME RUN! Greg Bird lets one fly ... Yankees lead 1-0. pic.twitter.com/9gOUGMTnbk

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 9, 2017

Yup, that's a long dinger. It's also just the second one hit off a Miller fastball by a left-handed hitter in the past three seasons:

Greg Bird is only the 2nd left-handed batter to homer on an Andrew Miller fastball in the past 3 seasons. Rougned Odor the other (in '16).

— Inside Edge (@InsideEdgeScout) October 9, 2017

Another thing Bird's home run was? Crucial. It put the Yankees up 1-0. They won by the same score, thereby forcing a Game 4.