You can’t take anything for granted in the playoffs, especially a short series like the Wild Card. In the short time that it has existed, the Wild Card Series has humbled several teams that stood a head above the rest of the first-round field by record, and it’s had a habit of favoring teams that strike first — all but one series has seen the team that wins first advance, with only their own performance in last year’s Wild Card Series against Boston standing out (though the Phillies still have a chance
to change that this year). Playing in it is meant to be a punishment, a risk, and it has acted accordingly, but the Yankees faced little challenge this time around in embarrassing their archrivals to open the postseason.
The Red Sox kept it close early again on Wednesday, and there was definitely some tension for the first hour or so of each of these two games, but much like Game 1 as soon as Chad Tracy went to his bullpen it became a party for the Yankees’ offense. A plethora of batters contributed this time around, from Luis Garcia Jr. getting it started with a solo home run to George Lombard Jr. coming up with an RBI knock as the lone right-hander starting in last night’s lineup to Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon providing productive outs before Cody Bellinger delivered the death blow with a three-run porch job: the entire offense had a part in the dismantling of the Sox bullpen.
Sonny Gray commented after the game that he wasn’t pleased with his manager pulling him in the middle of the fifth inning set to face the top of the order for the third time with the score still 1-0, and perhaps he and Payton Tolle could both make that argument after they were forced to watch the game unravel right after they left, but at the end of the day the Red Sox offense was completely flummoxed by the Yankees’ pitching and the dam that was Boston’s bullpen seemed destined to burst eventually. Cam Schlittler reasserted his dominance over the Sox on Tuesday, but Max Fried took the baton and continued shoving with six innings of one-run ball to make it miserable on Boston. The Yankees were the better team, evidenced by the record entering play before this series as well as the results during it. Now the team with the second-best record in the American League will get to move on, and they couldn’t have drawn it up any better.
Critically, New York won this series so handedly that they can effectively line themselves up again for a fresh start against the Rays instead of needing to scramble towards their next destination like they had to last year. Needing all three games against Boston in 2025 pushed them into the scenario where they had to start Luis Gil in Game 1 of the ALDS, the first of several unsuccessful moves that didn’t pan out as their pitching simply couldn’t handle Toronto’s bats. This time around, they’ve got Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon both waiting in the wings and can make a decision on which of them they want to start opposite Drew Rasmussen before slotting their presumptive Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler in for Game 2. Since Cole was named the ALWCS Game 3 starter ahead of time, I’m going to assume they’ll stick with him for Game 1, and if you told Aaron Boone before the season started that you could guarantee him he’d get to start Cole, Schlittler, and Fried in a row to open the ALDS he’d probably take that deal, even if it didn’t come with home field advantage. The blowouts also allowed the team to avoid taxing their bullpen, Boone tossing Brent Headrick and David Bednar to close out Game 2 simply to get them some work with minimal stress involved.
Nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs, but the opportunity for the Yankees right now is massive. Their offense picked the perfect time to break out and did so without Aaron Judge, who may or may not be active for the ALDS (for the sake of his health, he probably shouldn’t play yet but it’s only going to get harder to tell him no). Their pitching looked as lights out as they have all year, and the biggest road block on the American League side of the bracket is now directly in front of them in another short series. Win this one, and all that stands in your way of returning to the World Series is the winner of an AL Central matchup between two of the weakest teams in the whole dance. You can’t get caught looking ahead, but the path is right there. The Yankees didn’t break a sweat denying the Sox from playing in October, and it may have just been the jump start they were looking for all year. We’ll see how well they can carry this momentum into the Trop on Saturday.
We’re basking in the high of the Wild Card sweep to open the day, as Michael gives us his Player of the Game from the Game 2 victory. Jeremy then previews the ALDS matchup against the top-seeded Rays, Andres discusses how the young core has made their mark on this postseason run already, and Peter recaps the action around the rest of the Postseason as two other Wild Card Series wrapped up alongside the Yankees. Nick reminisces on the man who patrolled center before Burnie arrived in the Bronx in Roberto Kelly on his 62nd birthday, and then Peter will return to break down Cam Schlittler’s latest postseason gem in the Sequence of the Week.
Today’s Matchup:
Off-day, ALDS begins on Saturday, October 3rd
