Yankees ride balanced attack, advance to ALDS with Game 2 throttling of Red Sox
· Yahoo Sports
Let’s not beat around the bush—the Yankees didn’t. You could not have scripted a better two games than the pair the Bronx Bombers produced in this season’s Wild Card series rematch with the Red Sox. In both games, magnificent starting pitching blazed a trail through which the lineup ably followed. In both games, a late home run provided the thumb in the eye to their archrivals the hometown crowd was seeking. The Yankees are headed to the Sunshine State, thanks to one of the more complete dismantlings of the Red Sox we’ve seen in recent years: a 9-2 masterpiece which was even more lopsided than the scoreline suggested.
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There was one notable diversion from the Tuesday night blueprint. While Game 1 was something of a story of individual performances—with Cam Schlittler’s incredible start and Ben Rice’s historic night at the plate—Game 2 saw contributions from all across the lineup. Max Fried was brilliant, yes, but the plate production was remarkably balanced. Every batter who started the game got a hit, and five players drove in a run. And best of all, the Red Sox headed home with just two runs and eight total hits for their troubles. They’ll watch from the couch as the Yankees advance with burning eyes toward the top-seeded Rays.
The first parallel to Game 1 was the impressive starting pitching that got us underway. Max Fried struck out the first two Red Sox he faced, freezing Adley Rutschman on a picturesque changeup. Rutschman had tested the left field foul pole on his previous swing, but it hooked wide. Sonny Gray replied with an equally tidy start, getting Ben Rice to flail over top of a sweeper and setting down the top of the Yankee order quickly.
From there, the tennis rally from the two starters continued. Fried replied with a seven-pitch second, Gray worked around a two-out infield single. Fried navigated a hustle double (aided by a rather lackadaisical effort in center field from Trent Grisham) to put up another zero, Gray gave up a little bleeder of a hit to Ryan McMahon but nothing else. Suddenly we were already in the bottom of the fourth inning, still scoreless.
About an hour and five minutes into the affair, we finally got our first loud sound. It came off the bat of Luis García Jr. Sonny Gray’s 1-2 slider caught too much plate and ran into García’s barrel—he scorched it 107 mph to the short porch in right for a 1-0 Yankee lead.
View LinkSpencer Jones followed up with a broken bat single to left, but Gray was ultimately able to retire the side on a double play ball. Fried though, just like in last year’s Wild Card opener, buckled down with the narrow lead. He sandwiched a lazy pop between two more strikeouts, giving him six on the evening as we reached the midway mark.
The Bombers managed to chase Gray from the game in the bottom of the fifth when a base hit from Rice set up first and third with two men out. The Red Sox made the highly sensible decision to bring in lefty reliever Erik Miller to face Cody Bellinger. The only problem with that logic is the fact that Cody Bellinger is one of the best left-on-left hitters in baseball. He rewarded manager Chad Tracy’s decision with a base hit to right field, scoring Austin Wells for a 2-0 Yankee lead.
View LinkFrom there, New York had an opportunity to put Boston on the ropes. Garcia came in and roped a hard single to left, which should have loaded the bases for Spencer Jones. Unfortunately, third base coach Luis Rojas decided to send Rice to the plate—even though left fielder Nate Eaton had the ball in his glove by the time Rice hit the bag at third. The result was predictable: Eaton’s throw came home well ahead of the runner, and Ben was dead meat at home.
Rojas’ poor decision loomed larger in the top of the sixth inning when Max Fried, a strike away from completing another scoreless frame, just got beat. Willson Contreras stayed back on a payoff fastball above the zone and belted it out to right field for a home run, snapping Boston’s 26.2-inning postseason scoreless streak. Credit to Max, he got the final out soon after and departed with the lead intact. He finished with just three hits and one walk against six strikeouts. It was more than good enough to deliver the Yankees a victory, if his offense could help him out a little more.
It all began with a strikeout.
Garrett Crochet, in keeping with an early Wild Card round theme across the league, made his first appearance in a ballgame since hitting the injured list back in April. I was actually at the last start Crochet made: he made quick work of the Orioles over six innings. Boston scored 10 runs in the ninth inning to win 17-1. Alex Cora was fired as Red Sox manager the next day.
Crochet started his comeback outing by getting Spencer Jones to chase on a pitch well below the strike zone. But the ball would not behave, darting away from Rutschman. Jones burst out of the box, and was initially called out on the 2-3 putout, but Aaron Boone quickly challenged, and the replay revealed that Jones was safe. From there, the Yankees sensed their moment.
George Lombard Jr. came up next. Jones waited for Crochet to deliver to the plate, and made a mad dash for second. Rutschman’s throw slipped past Trevor Story and rolled into center field, allowing Jones to pop right back up and dig for third. So if you’re keeping track, that’s three free bases awarded to Jones by the Red Sox catcher. Lombard quickly gave him a fourth with an opposite field single, getting the run back and bringing the Yankee crowd to a roar.
Crochet was fully rattled now. He gave up another hit, this time to Jazz Chisholm Jr., then watched as Trent Grisham dropped a perfect bunt and beat the throw to first, loading the bases with nobody out. With Austin Wells due to hit next, Tracy ended the experiment, calling for Garrett Whitlock in an attempt to staunch the wound.
But the Yankees’ wheels were in motion, and their wagon would stop for no man. Austin Wells, who has worked tons of productive at-bats this series, provided yet another by adding a sac fly for a 4-1 score. McMahon followed with a ground ball to short, hit in such a spot and at such a velocity that another run could easily score; 5-1 Yankees. Then, on a night in which Clay Bellinger threw the ceremonial first pitch, up came Cody.
Whitlock probably felt he was fairly close to a livable scenario, having traded two runs for two outs. But his 1-0 changeup caught a big chunk of the strike zone, and Bellinger was ready to attack. His fly ball to right drifted out toward the short porch. Wilyer Abreu tracked back, back, back… and watched as it landed in the second row.
View LinkLike Rice’s grand slam the night before, the Yankees had found their knockout punch by way of the long ball. New York batted around in a six-run sixth inning. Shell-shock in the third base dugout; pandemonium at River Ave.
Even the Red Sox’ feeble comeback efforts were met with a quick response. Nick Sogard took Will Warren deep for a solo home run in the top of the seventh, so the Yankees got right back to work, with yet another quality at-bat from Wells culminating in a run-scoring single, shifting the scoreboard to 9-2. Whitlock, once the one that got away, was the one who allowed the Yankees to get away once and for all tonight.
Aaron Boone gave the back end of his bullpen some tune-up work as they prepared for the flight to Tampa Bay. Brent Headrick finished up the eighth in relief of Warren, then David Bednar came on for the ninth inning. The Red Sox managed one more baserunner on a walk to Contreras, but their time was up. Bednar struck out Caleb Durbin for the 27th out as the Yankees, in far less stressful fashion this time, eliminated the Red Sox in the Wild Card for the second consecutive year.
The Bombers will look to keep the tremendous momentum they built in this short series rocking into Tropicana Field. Game 1 of the ALDS will be on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Gerrit Cole, the presumptive Game 3 starter against Boston, will likely start Game 1 against Rays ace Drew Rasmussen. TBS will have the call. Enjoy this one, Yankees fans, and we’ll see you this weekend.