"Thanks to the Indians, Kerry Wood and Austin Kearns are in the postseason. It's the sixth time Wood has been in the playoffs and the first time for Kearns.

The Indians traded Kearns and Wood to the Yankees just before the July 31 trading deadline.

Wood is the Yankees' eighth-inning set-up man for closer Mariano Rivera. Kearns helped out initially in the outfield because of injuries to Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner until hand and elbow injuries limited his playing time.

"Kerry has done a great job for us in the bullpen," Rivera said.

Wood went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (two runs in 26 innings) for the Yankees after the trade. He struck out 31, walked 18 and allowed 14 hits. The opposition batted .161 against him.

"He's given us a presence back there," manager Joe Girardi said.

In the Yankees' sweep of the Twins in the American League Division Series, Wood appeared in three games and gave up one run in two innings.

"This is probably the best stretch I've had out of the pen as far as zeroes are concerned," Wood said. "It's fun. It's gone too fast, but it's been fun."

The Indians signed Wood to a two-year, $20.5 million deal before the 2009 season to be their closer. It will not be remembered as one of departed GM Mark Shapiro's finest moments.

The Indians not only failed to produce an adequate number of save opportunities for Wood, but he struggled with his consistency and was on the disabled list twice this season.

"I've had more opportunities in the set-up role and that's made a difference," Wood said. "I pitched four and sometimes five days a week and I responded well."

As for his time with the Indians, Wood said: "From a player's standpoint, we didn't live up to expectations. I think the front office did a good job of making the key moves it had to make. "