BOSTON -- Last October wasn't a whole lot of fun for Dellin Betances.
Relegated to last-man-in-the-bullpen status after an inconsistent and ineffective end to the regular season, Betances may as well have been sitting with the bleacher creatures during the most exciting moments of the Yankees' memorable postseason run.
"I was more of a cheerleader," Betances said on Thursday. "I was cheerleading a lot of the guys last season."
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Betances spent the final three innings of Wednesday's American League Wild Card Game as a cheerleader, though without the two scoreless frames he threw against the Athletics, there might not have been nearly as much to cheer about.
With New York clinging to a 2-0 lead in the fifth, Luis Severino gave up a pair of singles to put the tying runs on base for Oakland. Manager Aaron Boone summoned Betances from the bullpen to put out the fire.
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Although he didn't find himself in that type of situation last October, he had learned a lot watching teammates Chad Green and Player Page for David Robertson battle through similar spots.
"Obviously, [Wednesday] night was either win or go home, and I wasn't ready to go home yet," Betances said. "Watching those guys, I felt like it helped me prepare for that situation."

Boone had also given Betances a heads-up that if such a scenario presented itself, his number was the one that would be called.
"That just kind of gave me more confidence that I'm being brought into a situation like that with the middle of the order [coming up]," Betances said. "Made me feel better out there."

Betances retired Matt Chapman, Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis to strand the runners on base, and then he fired a second perfect inning in the sixth, striking out a pair. Six up, six down. What a difference a year makes.
"I was just fortunate enough to go in a good situation and get the job done," Betances said of the Yankees' 7-2 win over Oakland. "I've been waiting for that time for a long time now."
After making his fourth straight All-Star team in 2017, Betances fell apart down the stretch, pitching to a 5.68 ERA over his final 16 appearances. He issued 11 walks and hit five batters over 12 2/3 innings, his lack of command causing then-manager Joe Girardi to lose confidence in the big right-hander.
That much was clear based on Girardi's usage of Betances during the Yankees' postseason run. The Yankees were trailing in three of his five appearances, leading by four and eight runs in the other two -- and he didn't record an out in either of those games, walking two batters each time before being pulled.
Betances had been considered one of the best relievers in the game for three-plus years, but suddenly Girardi couldn't -- or wouldn't -- count on him in any high-leverage spots.

The late-season malaise seemed to linger into 2018, only now it wasn't walks hurting Betances. It was home runs. He gave up three in his first six appearances, matching the number he allowed in all of '17.
"Even when he had a couple of hiccups, I felt like he was in a really good place mentally just with his delivery and how he was throwing the ball," Boone said. "And that manifested itself during the season."
A minor tweak in that delivery and a heavier reliance upon his fastball helped Betances turn things around. From May 12 through the end of the regular season, he pitched to a 1.78 ERA, striking out 85 batters while walking 21 over 50 2/3 innings.
Given his start to the 2018 postseason, it's clear Betances will be a major part of Boone's postseason bullpen.
"With what he went through last year for him, to go out [Wednesday] night and kind of be the first man out of the 'pen in a huge situation and come in and just be on point and dominate is hopefully something that will be a little springboard for him into this postseason," Boone said. "I know I'm proud of the effort that he gave, but I'm not surprised either, because I feel like he's been in a really good place really all season long for us."