Yankees Rally To Win Wildcard

There’s not many better feelings in our Yankees universe than beating the Red Sox, and it doesn’t matter if its spring training, regular season, or postseason. Beating that team is what we live for in our baseball fandom. But obviously, it’s a hell of a lot more enjoyable when it’s October. Props to the Yankees for getting off the mat and rallying to win the best-of-three wildcard. Now it’s on to the ALDS where there’s another team we all hate, the Blue Jays, waiting. Lets get to it. 

When Wednesday morning dawned, I was already ruminating how I was going to write the epitaph on this Yankees season.

That first game loss Tuesday was such a debacle in every way - which you’ll read all about down below - that I really didn’t think the Yankees had it in them to rebound and win Wednesday, let alone win Thursday and take the wildcard series.

But hey, I’m happy I was wrong as the Yankees became the first team since the best-of-three wildcard round began to lose Game 1 but come back to win the series. Teams were 0-for-15 previously, so that’s a nice little piece of memorabilia for the Yankees to own.

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“We were a confident group, going into this Red Sox series,” said Aaron Judge. “They had our number all regular season, but we knew what we needed to do. This group knew what was ahead of us. We’ve been battling all year long, we’ve had our ups, we’ve had our downs. From the outside, there’s a lot of noise about what’s going on, but this group never faltered.”

He’s right about. There was a lot of noise, and it was deafening Tuesday night. We were all ready to launch Aaron Boone to the sun for that stupid lineup he wrote out for Game 1 against Garrett Crochet, and then for the in-game decisions he did or didn’t make as the game played out.

Suffice to say, after that loss it was pretty tough to see a path for the Yankees overcoming not only the Red Sox, but the manager.

However, what ended up happening is the better team realized they were the better team and they got down to the business of proving it in the last two games. You look at these rosters and it was sort of inconceivable that Boston was on the verge of advancing, so thankfully we won’t have to suck on that bitter pill all offseason and believe me, Boone feels the same way.

“Honestly, going into the night for me personally, it felt like as pressure-packed a game as I have ever been in, as a player, manager, going into World Series, that’s clinching to go into a World Series, just because the context in my brain of what I think our team is,” Boone said after the clincher Thursday. “A great opponent. A storied opponent. Here, down one. The boys answered the bell and played great baseball these couple days.”

Putting the Red Sox out of their misery was glorious, especially since they had eliminated the Yankees the last three times the teams met in the postseason (2004 ALCS, 2018 ALDS, 2021 one-game wildcard).

This was a Boston team that won the season series and through Tuesday were 10-4 against the Yankees this year including 6-2 in the Bronx. But Boone’s boys put together a gritty Game 2 victory and then sat back in Game 3 and watched rookie Cam Schlittler author one of the greatest postseason pitching performances in MLB history.

Look, the Yankees should not have been playing in this series, but they had no choice because they allowed the Blue Jays to win the division thanks to their own poor play for most of the summer. You think back and it’s galling to remember all the blown games by the bullpen, but they survived this scary round, and now they move on to the round they should have already qualified for.

“Man, I’m just glad we were able to extend the season,” Cody Bellinger said. “What a fun group to be a part of. I love each and every one of these guys. This was just a fun series to be a part of.”

Sept. 30: Red Sox 3, Yankees 1

➤ We can laugh now, I guess, but we weren’t laughing Tuesday night because it was a nightmare of a start to the series. Thankfully, everything improved after this. In this first game, everything that we knew could be the Yankees downfall happened. The offense, as it so often does against good pitching, failed miserably; the manager once again proved what a dipshit he is; and of course, the bullpen blew the game. It was like it was some random night from June through August all over again.

➤ First you start with Boone and whoever else is in on the meetings that determine the starting lineup. Because they were facing the left-handed terminator Crochet, the Yankees shook in their cleats and decided to sit three of their regular starters - Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm and Ryan McMahon. McMahon hasn’t hit a lick so you could understand that with Jose Caballaro or Amed Rosario as obvious right-hand options. But sitting Rice and Chisholm was managerial malfeasance.

➤ I thought the reason why Rice caught Max Fried for the first time last week was so they could be ready to work together in the playoffs. Guess not. Austin Wells played and while there’s no doubt he’s better on defense, he was useless at the plate going 0-for-3 with two whiffs including one in the eighth with a man on second where he took strike three right down the god damn middle. Meanwhile, Rice sat on the bench the whole night. At the very least, why couldn’t Rice have pinch hit in that spot?

➤ Then there’s Chisholm. The guy had 31 homers and 31 stolen bases and his on-base percentage against lefties (.322) was nearly as good as it was against righties (.336). What the hell are these idiots thinking? Rosario played second and went 0-for-3, though at least he wasn’t one of the 13 strikeouts that Crochet and Aroldis Chapman racked up. Still, it was sheer idiocy that he played over Chisholm. And then, Boone put Chisholm into the game late, and he had to face Chapman in the ninth. I mean, why? If he wasn’t to be trusted against Crochet, why Chapman? Just utterly bizarre.

➤ Now the Fried decision. While Alex Cora pushed Crochet - who was way more dominant than Fried - through 7.2 innings and a career-high 117 pitches, Boone managed the game like we’re still in July. He yanked Fried with one out, no one on base, with the 8-9 hitters coming up, at 102 pitches. Truly unbelievable. Why couldn’t he let Fried go batter to batter in the seventh and if someone got on, then go to the bullpen? Nope. He had to make the move to Luke Weaver and it exploded in his face. At least he learned his lesson by Thursday and stuck with Schlittler.

➤ Ultimately, what hurt Fried, even though he did not allow a run on four hits and three walks, were his struggles in the fourth and fifth innings which pushed his pitch count up. In the fourth he got two quick outs, then walked Carlos Narvaez, gave up a double to Nate Eaton of all guys, before striking out Jarren Duran. Those last three batters chewed up 17 pitches. In the fifth, again, two quick outs but Rob Refsnyder walked and Trevor Story singled before Alex Bregman grounded out. Those last three guys chewed up another 11 pitches.

➤ Weaver came into about as easy a situation as there could be in the postseason. And he puked all over himself. He got ahead of Ceddane Rafaela 0-2, and then incredibly, against all odds after 11 pitches, walked him. Rafeala walked 28 times all season. That was in 587 plate appearances, yet Weaver walked him. Then the No. 9 hitter, Nick Sogard for Christ’s sake. He rips one to right-center and Judge and Trent Grisham jogged over, Judge got there first and Sogard, who was busting it out of the box knowing neither Grisham or the injured Judge can throw, hustled it into a double. Finally, lefty-swinging Masataka Yoshida ripped a single to the same spot and both men scored.

➤ This bullpen has sucked all year, and yeah, they had 23.2 consecutive scoreless innings coming into the game, but let’s tap the brakes and remember it was against the White Sox and Orioles, two shitty last-place teams. Boone wound up using five relievers to cover the final eight outs. When you have a shitty bullpen, and then you use five guys, what are the odds that one or two of them are going to shit the bed? I’d say pretty high, and sure enough, Weaver and David Bednar did exactly that.

➤ The last thing the Yankees needed was for Bednar to give up an insurance run, but of course, he did. He got the first two outs, then Story singled, stole second and scored on Bregman’s RBI double before Tim Hill had to get the last out for the closer.

➤ As for the offense, so predictable, right? Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge started the game with back-to-back singles and then Bellinger whiffed and Giancarlo Stanton grounded into a soul-crushing double play. Anthony Volpe hit a shocking solo homer in the second, and then Crochet retired the next 17 men he faced. No one reached base until Volpe singled with one out in the eighth which was simply deplorable. Wells then followed with his ridiculous strikeout, and then Chapman came in and got Caballaro to leave Volpe at second.

➤ Then came the bottom of the ninth, and my God, how irritating. Chapman, who has been almost impossible to hit and score against all season, gave up three straight singles to Goldschmidt, Judge and Bellinger. Bases loaded, no outs, and Stanton whiffed and that’s where the entire inning went to die. You knew it was over when he didn’t come through. There are two versions of Stanton - nuclear Stanton, and nothing Stanton, and you know what we got in this game, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Chisholm flied out, Grisham struck out for the fourth time, ballgame. Sickening.

What they said in Tuesday’s clubhouse

• Judge on the throw in the seventh, which no one believed: “Trying to get in there and make a play. I didn’t want to overthrow it. He’s quick. He got in there and you just try to make a play. We just got to keep playing our game. We came into this thing rolling. … We’ve just got to get a couple wins.”

• Cora on that play, which everyone believed: “That’s preparation. We talk about their outfielders and, ‘What can we do or what [can’t we] do,’ and [Sogard] saw it right away and took advantage of it.”

• Weaver on the Rafaela at bat: “That’s a real tough one to swallow, when you know you have him at an advantage count. He did a really good job spoiling some pitches and the next thing you know, it’s 3-2. He did a good job battling through. I didn’t want to give in and throw a cookie. The momentum kind of switched. I felt the outing overall was competitive. I was throwing to areas I wanted to, but they weren’t perfect. It never is. There are a lot of disappointed people, including myself.”

Oct. 1: Yankees 4, Red Sox 3

➤ So began the comeback, and what happened in this game only illuminated to a blinding degree the stupidity of Boone’s lineup decisions in the first game. Rice started the game with a two-run homer, and Chisholm essentially finished it when he drew a two-out eighth-inning walk and then scored all the way from first when Wells ripped a liner into right field and Chisholm narrowly beating the throw to the plate with an electrifying headfirst slide. Maybe the Yankees still don’t win Game 1 with those two in the lineup, but they probably would have had a better chance.

➤ This one started great as Carlos Rodon was perfect through two innings, and Rice destroyed a Brayan Bello pitch following a two-out walk to Bellinger for a quick 2-0 lead. It just made you want to scream that Rice sat there Tuesday night, dry-docked by the manager.

➤ From there, it was quite a ride. Rodon was good, certainly not great, but at least he gave the Yankees six innings and lessened the burden on the bullpen. He mowed down the first six men, but then he handed back that early lead with a bad third inning. Duran singled, Rafaela somehow walked again, and then Sogard dropped down a bunt and Rodon made a bad throw to Chisholm at first and everyone was safe. He struck out Refsnyder, but Story lashed a two-run single and Rodon was fortunate to limit the damage when he got Bregman to ground into a slick double play turned by Chisholm and Volpe.

➤ The Yankees knocked Bello in the third as McMahon and Judge singled, but they didn’t score because Justin Wilson got Bellinger on a fly and Rice on a smoked liner to right that was just bad luck.

➤ In the fifth, the Red Sox began to make the mistakes which we usually see the Yankees make, and it crushed them. The first came when with two outs, reliever Justin Slaten walked Grisham and a wild pitch moved him to second. That proved huge when Judge hit a ball to left that should have been caught but Duran booted it. They gave Judge a single but it was really an error. Either way, the go-ahead run scored.

➤ Unfortunately, Rodon served up a solo homer to Story leading off the sixth, but here, Boone went to get him and Rodon talked him out of it, and he managed to get through the rest of the sixth. But then Rodon started the seventh by throwing eight straight balls, the last of which hit Duran, so it was first and second, no out.

➤ This was about as big a period as there was the entire series. In came Cruz, and holy shit, what an escape. The Sox did him a huge favor when Rafaela tried to sacrifice and popped it right back to Cruz. Bunting is so stupid, especially when the bunter can’t bunt. That was a free out, thank you. Then came a fly out before an infield single by Yoshida, but on that Chisholm made a spectacular diving snag to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring. Of course, the run also didn’t score because of a brutal baserunning mistake by Eaton who should have easily scored when Rice bobbled Chisholm’s ill-advised throw and the ball skipped behind him. That was a massive break. The bases were loaded, but Grisham tracked down Story’s deep shot to center to end the threat.

➤ I’ll admit that when Garrett Whitlock entered in the seventh, with Chapman looming later, I didn’t think the Yankees were going to score unless the game went to extra innings. Happily, I was wrong. In the eighth Whitlock got the first two outs before walking Chisholm, yet with Wells up I had zero hope. However, Whitlock was also getting tired as Wells worked his pitch count into the mid-40s and finally, he hit a laser to right and the Yankees caught another break. The ball hit the short wall and stayed there rather than go further down the line where Eaton had already arrived. He had to run in to retrieve the ball and that was just enough for Chisholm to get home.

➤ In the ninth, Bednar was much better, though when Rafaela hit that rocket to right-center I thought for sure it was gone, but Judge got back to the warning track and ended the game.

What they said in Wednesday’s clubhouse

• Boone on Chisholm: “He loves to play. He feels a responsibility to us, his teammates. And he and I have always been good, despite what you may think happened (Tuesday). He’s a gamer, and you know, he likes the stage.”

• Chisholm: “There was never a problem between me and Aaron Boone. I’ve stood behind him all year. We always have disagreements. I mean, I played third base this year, we had a little bit of disagreement with that. But at the end of the day, I always stand with Boonie, because he always understands where I come from. He knows I’m a passionate player. I wear my feelings on my sleeve and he knows that I’m there to compete.”

• Rodon: “Definitely a battle. They strung some good at-bats together, but defensively we had some great turns.”

• Eaton on not scoring: “Obviously, it was a big play. We didn’t score. I obviously couldn’t see it. As I’m getting to third, I’m told to stop and then I couldn’t see how far away the ball was away when it got by Rice.”

• Duran on his misplay: “I was just playing pretty deep on Judge and as I was coming in, I thought it was a little higher than it was. I didn’t really have to go into a full dive there and just kind of pushed the ball on myself a little more. It kind of got really up on me. It’s on me.”

Oct. 2: Yankees 4, Red Sox 0

➤ On the anniversary of Bucky Fucking Dent in 1978, we now have the 2025 Holy Schlitt game. Cam Schlittler put on one of the greatest postseason pitching performances in not only Yankees history, but postseason history. He eviscerated the Red Sox across eight scoreless innings allowing just five harmless singles, no walks, and 12 strikeouts. That was the most K’s ever for a Yankees rookie in a postseason debut, and he became the first pitcher in MLB postseason history with eight scoreless innings, zero walks and 12 whiffs. The first ever. We’ve been playing playoff baseball since 1903.

➤ The only time the Red Sox even sniffed at scoring was the fifth when Nathaniel Lowe led off with a single and after two strikeouts, Romy Gonzalez singled. That was the only time Boston had two men on base in the same inning, and no one reached third as Duran struck out to end it. Schlittler threw 105 pitches, 75 for strikes.

➤ And how about Boone one-upping Cora by sending Schlittler out for the eighth inning? I didn’t think that would happen, but it did, and he wound up getting one more out than Crochet did on Tuesday.

➤ The kid who started for the Red Sox, lefty Connelly Early, looked like an eighth-grader. Yet making just his fifth MLB start, he was baffling the Yankees for three innings before it all came apart in the fourth when the Yankees scored all four of their runs, and it sure wasn’t all his fault.

➤ It began with a bloop double to right-center by Bellinger which probably should have been caught by someone. Stanton walked and after Rice - who had a brutal night - whiffed, Rosario grounded a single through short and Bellinger scored on a close play at the plate. Then Chisholm singled to load the bases and Volpe followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead. Next, Wells worked a good at bat before hitting a grounder to first which Lowe booted for an error and two runs scored and that was it. And imagine this - no home runs. They actually scored four runs in an inning on four hits, a walk and the big error. That’s what you have to do in the postseason.

➤ It’s crazy that all it took was that one outburst to win the game. The Red Sox simply had no chance against Schlittler, and even when Bednar gave up a leadoff walk in the ninth, he then mowed down the next three rather easily.

➤ The defense was a little spotty as Rice dropped a foul pop in the first, and Chisholm made a terrible feed that cost the Yankees a double play. But how about Volpe making a great catch on that Chisholm throw, and playing superbly for the entire three games, both on defense and offense? And how about the incredible catch McMahon made before flipping over the rail and into the Red Sox dugout? Jeteresque in every way.

What they said in Thursday’s clubhouse

• Schlittler: “I woke up and I was locked in. I knew exactly what I needed to do and go out there, especially against my hometown team. As I told Andy (Pettitte) yesterday, I wasn’t going to let them beat me. It’s personal for me. People from Boston had a lot to say before the game, so for me, just being a silent killer, being able to go out there and shut them down. We’re aggressive back home (he’s from Walpole, Mass.) and we’re going to try to get under people’s skins. They just picked the wrong guy to do it to - and the wrong team to do it to as well. It’s definitely a dream to play Boston in the playoffs and end their season.”

• Judge on Schlittler: “He’s been our secret weapon ever since he got called up.”

• Cora on the fourth inning: “We didn’t play defense. The popup drops, there’s a double, and there’s a walk. They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes. It just happened fast. The kid did a good job. He threw the ball well and induced them to weak contact.”

It’s on the to AL Divisional Series which begins Saturday afternoon in Toronto against a Blue Jays team that I hate every bit as much as I hate the Red Sox.

The Blue Jays are a royal pain in the ass because they led MLB in team average (.265) and on-base percentage at .333 and were also third in OPS at .761. They put the ball in play, strikeout less than only one other team (Royals), were third in doubles (294).

On the pitching side, they aren’t nearly as good. They’re starting rotation ERA is 4.34 ranked 20th and the WHIP of 1.270 ranked 17th, while the bullpen wasn’t much better with a 3.98 ERA (16th) and 1.128 WHIP (13th).

Here are some of their top players to watch:

➤ 1B Vladimir Guerrero: He was solid, but not great as he had 23 homers, 84 RBI and an .848 OPS.

➤ DH George Springer: He had a remarkable comeback season at age 35 and led the Jays with 35 homers, 84 RBI and a .959 OPS. And, like Guerrero, he was put on this earth to torture the Yankees and that’s what he did all year.

➤ C Alejandro Kirk: He’s one of the best hitting catchers in MLB and he slashed .282/.348/.421 with an OPS of .769 and 76 RBI.

➤ IF Ernie Clement: With Bo Bichette injured and possibly unavailable, the Rochester native figures to start and he had a nice year with a .277 average while playing fine defense.

➤ RP Jeff Hoffman: He had an up-and-down season as the closer as he finished an MLB-most 59 games with 33 saves, but he also blew seven and had an ugly 4.37 ERA

The pitching matchups have not been announced but here’s the schedule:

• Game 1, Saturday, 4:08, FOX.

• Game 2, Sunday, 4:08, FS1.

• Game 3, Tuesday, TBD, FOX.

• Game 4, Wednesday, TBD, FOX (if necessary).

• Game 5, Thursday, TBD, FOX (if necessary).