NEW YORK — One decision, in either direction, right or wrong, could mean the game or the series for postseason teams. For the Boston Red Sox, it took all of three pitches to find out that a curious decision by manager Chad Tracy has them on the brink of elimination.
After the New York Yankees' 9-0 win in Game 1 of their AL wild-card series, Tracy was asked about his decision to pull starter Payton Tolle after 83 pitches. Tolle didn’t show signs of fatigue when he was replaced by left-hander Eric Miller and went to the visitors’ dugout, giving up five hits, one earned run, one walk, and four strikeouts.
Game 1 was Tracy’s first postseason game as a manager, and before the matchup between the heated AL East rivals, he said he was most excited for the players
because of the adversity they had faced this season, earning a playoff spot despite being 14 games under .500 in late June. He took over on an interim basis in April after Alex Cora was fired and led the team to a 77-58 record the rest of the way.
“I thought he threw the ball well. They did an effective job of grinding the count up as well. He had traffic. They put traffic on him. He was able to navigate his way through that. I think he competed extremely well for the time that he was out there and gave us what he could,” Tracy said of Tolle.
"I think the number being up there in the mid-80s, still trying to get through five, probably higher than what you normally see with Payton, and to be expected in an environment like this. But I thought he competed his butt off."
Miller, a 28-year-old left-hander, who was acquired from the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 3, had been outstanding in the regular season, striking out 74 batters in 51.1 innings in his 57 appearances, giving Boston much-needed middle relief down the stretch.
But Miller’s first batter that he faced was designated hitter Ben Rice, and on his third pitch to the Yankees' leading home-run hitter, Rice deposited a 96-mph sinker that was right in the middle of the plate 423 feet to deep center field and Monument Park to extend the Yankees' lead to 2-0. Tolle had struck Rice out swinging in the third (the only time he was retired in the game) and gave up a double to him in the first.
That point of Tracy’s decision could prove not to be the deciding factor, as the rest of his bullpen gave up seven more runs, including a grand slam to Rice, the 16th four-bagger in the Yankees' illustrious postseason history, in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete the scoring.
"I just think we were in a point where the way the game was going along, that if we could try to keep the game there, but also trying to keep guys short as we moved through it," Tracy said.
"Obviously, we had fallen down by four, and if we can try to keep guys short, stay in the game, and still have people online for tomorrow. But obviously the game was getting away from us at that point."
Rice finished with six RBIs, tying a team postseason record shared with four other players, and the Red Sox bullpen, which had the third-best ERA in baseball during the regular season at 3.27, couldn’t get the outs that were needed at critical times. It’s also too bad their opponents led MLB in that category at 3.15, as New York’s relievers surrendered only a Trevor Story double in the top of the eighth in the final three innings.
Tracy’s relievers were more than inefficient; the Yankees teed off on bad pitches and had great plate discipline. Tolle’s night ended after he struck out four batters in his 4⅔ innings of work, and the Yankees, who struck out the sixth most of any team, whiffing 1,480 times in 2026, didn’t strike out the rest of the game.
But no matter what the bullpen did, Boston's hitters could do nothing with Yankees starter Cam Schiltter, who struck out 10 in 6⅓ innings in 117 pitches of work and who, at one point, sent down 13 straight batters.
“Cam was obviously awfully good,” Tracy said. “The fastball shapes are well-documented. He's throwing hard. He also had a good curveball today that you know it's there, but he used it a little bit more often. He landed it if he wanted to for strikes. He was able to get it beneath for a swing-and-miss. We weren't able to do much with him.”
Compounding problems for the Red Sox was the injury to leadoff hitter Roman Anthony, who exited in the fifth inning after aggravating a wrist injury. Tracy says he is not sure of Anthony’s availability for Game 2.
But the Red Sox are relying on Sonny Gray in Game 2 to help extend their season and give his battered bullpen some relief.
"I think we're very comfortable with all of our starters, the way that they've performed during the course of the season," Tracy said. "So having him out there tomorrow, anytime he's out there, we feel good about it. But having him out there tomorrow, obviously the season's on the line for us, and he can handle that."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Red Sox's usually dependable bullpen implodes vs. Yankees in Game 1 rout
