NEW YORK (AP) — With the Boston bats ice cold at Yankee Stadium again, a couple of quick hooks by Red Sox rookie manager Chad Tracy led to an early postseason exit.
Same story, different year. And this time, it wasn't even close.
For the second consecutive season, the Red Sox were sent home for the winter by their biggest rivals when the New York Yankees rolled to a 9-2 victory Wednesday night and a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series.
The Red Sox
were outscored 18-2 overall and left to lament a miserable finish to this roller-coaster ride of a season.
Facing a New York lineup missing injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Red Sox gave up 26 hits despite a pair of effective performances from their starting pitchers.
At the plate, Boston mustered only seven hits and finally snapped a 26-inning postseason scoring drought that dated to last year when Willson Contreras homered just over the right-center fence in the sixth Wednesday.
Needing a victory to extend their season, the Red Sox sent 18-game winner Sonny Gray to the mound and he certainly gave them a chance. Boston trailed 1-0 in the fifth when the right-hander allowed a two-out single to Ben Rice that put runners at the corners.
Tracy then yanked Gray after only 70 pitches, eager to hand the ball to baseball's best bullpen during the regular season.
The 41-year-old Tracy, the youngest manager in these playoffs, made a similar move in the series opener when he pulled rookie starter Payton Tolle after 4 2/3 innings and 83 pitches in a 1-0 game.
Both decisions backfired.
On Tuesday, Rice greeted left-handed reliever Erik Miller with a 423-foot solo homer to straightaway center field, and the Yankees cruised to a 9-0 victory.
This time, Tracy summoned Miller to face a different left-handed batter, Cody Bellinger — who batted .274 against lefties this season and .259 versus right-handers. In fact, his .310 batting average against left-handers over the past two years was the best of any left-handed hitter in the majors.
Bellinger made Tracy and the Red Sox pay, lining an RBI single to right field.
“We’re struggling to score runs,” Tracy said. “And when you get in spots where struggling to score runs and you’re already trailing, you feel like you’ve got to be aggressive and go.”
Back from a shoulder injury, ace starter Garrett Crochet entered in the sixth for his first outing since April 25 and first relief appearance since 2023 with the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander opened with a strikeout, but Spencer Jones reached safely on a wild pitch, and Crochet never got an out.
Bellinger's three-run homer off right-hander Garrett Whitlock capped a six-run inning that made it 8-1, and the Red Sox were finished.
Their downfall in the Bronx was a crushing end to a wild 2026 season for the Red Sox, who stumbled to 32-46 start and went on a magical 15-game winning streak in July to climb back into contention.
“It’s obviously been an eventful year. In the moment right now you can’t think much more other than anything but the fact that we just lost a playoff series,” Tracy said.
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