Yankees sweep Red Sox in Wild Card Series with 9-2 Game 2 victory

Game 2 victory seals sweep

The New York Yankees secured a two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the American League Wild Card Series on Wednesday night, earning a 9-2 victory at Yankee Stadium. Max Fried held the Red Sox to three hits over six innings to record his first postseason victory since the 2021 World Series clincher with the Atlanta Braves. New York took an early lead in the fourth inning on a solo home run by trade deadline acquisition Luis García Jr., who finished with three hits in his first postseason start. Boston cut the deficit to 2-1 in the sixth inning when Willson Contreras hit a home run to right-center field, ending a 26-inning postseason scoring drought for the Red Sox. The Yankees broke the game open in the bottom half of the sixth with a six-run rally capped by Cody Bellinger's three-run homer off reliever Garrett Whitlock. Bellinger finished the night with four runs batted in to help New York complete the sweep.

Boston pitching moves backfire

Boston rookie manager Chad Tracy turned to his bullpen early in both contests of the series, but the substitutions repeatedly led to New York runs. In Game 2, Red Sox starter Sonny Gray threw 70 pitches across 4 2/3 innings before being removed with two outs and runners on the corners. Left-handed reliever Erik Miller entered to face Bellinger, who lined a run-scoring single to right field to extend New York's lead. In the series opener on Tuesday, Tracy had similarly pulled starter Payton Tolle after 4 2/3 innings and 83 pitches in a 1-0 game, after which Miller surrendered a 423-foot home run to Ben Rice. In Wednesday's sixth inning, Boston pitcher Garrett Crochet made his first appearance since April 25 following left shoulder inflammation, but he exited without recording an out after Spencer Jones reached first base on a wild pitch third strike that was overturned on video review.

Offensive drought and Game 1 rout

Boston struggled to produce offense throughout the series, finishing with a.117 batting average on seven hits across 60 at-bats while striking out 18 times. New York outscored Boston by an aggregate margin of 18-2 across the two games while tallying 26 hits without injured outfielder Aaron Judge in the lineup. In Tuesday's opener, Massachusetts native Cam Schlittler pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings to guide the Yankees to a 9-0 victory. Fellow Massachusetts native Ben Rice went 4-for-5 at the plate in Game 1, hitting a solo home run off Miller and a grand slam off Brayan Bello. Boston had reached the postseason after recovering from a 32-46 start during the regular season, but the defeat marked the second consecutive year the Red Sox were eliminated by the Yankees in the opening round.

Anthony sidelined by wrist injury

Boston also faced roster disruption before Game 2 after outfielder Roman Anthony was ruled out for the remainder of the series due to right wrist muscle strains. Anthony exited Game 1 in the sixth inning after feeling pain during check swings against Schlittler, having previously missed 101 games during the regular season with a torn finger ligament in the same hand.

Tracy addressed the medical evaluation prior to Wednesday's game:

Just midday today I first found out, yeah, there's more there that we're not going to have him. We'll figure it out as we move along.

Anthony explained the circumstances surrounding the injury:

It was just super alarming and it got to a point where it was tough to grip a bat. I knew then and there that this was a little bit more similar to the one earlier in the year. That's why we decided to go get imaging.

League officials approved Boston's request to replace Anthony with infielder Curtis Mead on Wednesday. The Yankees advance to face American League East champion Tampa Bay in an American League Division Series that begins on Saturday.