Red Sox’s Historic Postseason Collapse Vs. Yankees First Of Its Kind
There have been 16 Wild Card series under the current MLB postseason format, which began in 2022. In 15 of those, the team that won the first game also won the series.
On Thursday night, the Boston Red Sox became the first team to lose in the Wild Card round after going up 1-0, getting eliminated from the playoffs after losing back-to-back games to the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
The Red Sox were in good shape after winning the series opener 3-1 on Tuesday. After only using Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman in Game 1, their bullpen was almost fully rested for Game 2.
Boston was unable to capitalize, however, dropping the second game 4-3 despite Alex Cora nearly emptying his bullpen. The Red Sox made several crucial mistakes on the bases, in the field and at the plate, failing to put the Yankees away.
That left them light on pitching and vulnerable for Thursday’s winner-take-all Game 3. Connelly Early pitched well given the circumstances but was unable to overcome Boston’s defensive miscues, resulting in a four-run fourth inning for New York. That was all the Yankees needed behind Cam Schlittler, who blanked the Red Sox over eight innings in one of the greatest starts in postseason history.
Boston battled hard in Game 2, rallying twice to tie the game before New York took the lead for good in the eighth inning. However, the bats had no answer for Schlittler in his first career start against them, striking out 12 times against him and managing just five hits (all singles).
The Red Sox beat themselves at times, but the Yankees were also the more talented, deeper and healthier team. New York didn’t panic, and Boston never led during the final two games.
Winning a three-game series at Yankee Stadium is never easy, and there’s no shame in losing to the defending American League champs. This was a close, winnable series for the Red Sox, but they gave the Yankees too many chances and weren’t able to finish the job.