This week’s Wild Card series in the Bronx was being touted as a heavyweight matchup. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox were poised to duke it out on primetime. What ensued was a one-sided thrashing.
The Yankees absolutely embarrassed the Red Sox in a rather effortless two-game sweep, outscoring Boston by a combined score of 18-2. That’s the largest run differential in a Wild Card series since the introduction of the three-game format in 2022. The previous record was held by the Texas Rangers, who outscored the Tampa Bay Rays by a total of 11-1 across two games in 2023.
Essentially, what Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle coined as a “slobberknocker” between two of baseball’s Goliaths turned into an ugly beatdown.
The biggest equalizer for the Yankees in this series, as it was all season long, was their exquisite starting pitching. Cam Schlittler continued to add to his historic résumé against the Red Sox with a masterful 117-pitch outing in Game 1, going 6.1 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. Max Fried, despite battling scattered command and deep counts, delivered a strong performance in Game 2, surrendering just one run across six innings of work. Schlittler and Fried combined to throw 12.1 innings, allowing just five hits, two walks, and one run while striking out 16.
The bullpen, only tasked with picking up 17 outs in the series thanks to the excellence of Schlittler and Fried, was also as lockdown as ever. Across 5.2 innings as a unit, they surrendered only two hits and one run. Additionally, given the lopsided scores, the high-leverage arms of Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar were used sparingly and allowed to rest for the ALDS.
However, the story of the series should be the Yankees’ offense, which rose to the occasion in a big way. Questions had been asked about the Bronx Bombers for pretty much the entire season, as fans wondered if this team could put up enough runs with Aaron Judge being banged up. When news came out that the Captain wouldn’t be available for this Wild Card series, those concerns became even more amplified. The Yankees lineup put those concerns to bed rather quickly over the last 48 hours.
The 18 runs scored by the Yankees set the record for the most runs in a Wild Card sweep in the modern format, surpassing the Diamondbacks’ total of 16 in 2023. They also collected an incredible 26 hits in this series, the most they’ve had across any two-game stretch since late May during a series in Kansas City. It’s important to note that they did this against a very impressive Boston pitching staff, one that had a team ERA of 3.54, the third-best mark in baseball. Boston’s bullpen, which surrendered the most damage in this series, had a 3.27 cumulative ERA, also third in baseball.
The Yankees simply rose to the moment. Rookies George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones both showed up in their first taste of postseason baseball, and the big boppers of Rice, Bellinger, and Garcia did what they were supposed to.
What should get Yankees fans really excited isn’t the home runs; it’s the execution of the little things offensively. Flashback to the sixth inning yesterday, when the whole rally was started by Spencer Jones hustling down the line to reach on a strikeout and passed ball. Then he used his athleticism to wreak havoc on the bases. The Yankees followed that up with two simple line-drive singles the other way, not trying to do too much and just taking what Crochet was giving them. Then it was a bunt and two productive outs that got the snowball rolling on Boston. Bellinger’s homer will get the headlines, and rightfully so, but that inning was made by good execution from the Yankees.
The Yankees will need to keep that momentum going into Saturday’s opener against the Rays in the ALDS, as the tough Drew Rasmussen is looming in Game 1. With hits likely harder to come by in that contest, it’s crucial that the Yankees continue to do the little things and put themselves in positions to capitalize offensively.
Simply put, the Yankees outclassed, outmatched, and outperformed the Red Sox in every facet of the game this series. Honestly, that’s how it should’ve happened. This was a Red Sox team that, barring that miraculous run in the summer, was not very good. Their offense was dead last in most offensive metrics in September, and they limped their way into the postseason.
Tampa Bay will not give the Yankees such an easy series. They have a clear identity, fully embracing the pesky, speedy, contact-oriented approach not dissimilar to the Blue Jays of last year, who ultimately overwhelmed the Yankees in the Division Series. The Yankees still have the clear edge when it comes to overall roster quality, but they’re going to need to ride this energy they earned here in the Wild Card series and take it down to the Trop.
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