The Yankees did not do much with outs 22, 23 or 24.
Gary Sanchez came in as a pinch-hitter for catcher Kyle Higashioka, but if you blinked you missed him, as he flied out to center on the first pitch he saw from the new Red Sox reliever, Hansel Robles. Rougned Odor followed his lead by flying out to left. And Anthony Rizzo closed out the half-inning by striking out on three pitches. The Yankees batters have three more outs to make up a five-run deficit or their season is over.
Desperately needing to keep the Red Sox quiet, the Yankees could not.
Jonathan Loaisiga started the half-inning by getting Christian Arroyo to ground out to third. Empty bases didn’t last. Loaisiga walked Kyle Schwarber (not great, but better than letting Schwarber swing for the fences), and got to eight straight balls by walking Enrique Hernandez on four pitches.
Seeing trouble brewing, Manager Aaron Boone pulled Loaisiga in favor of Chad Green. The right-handed Green proceeded to get Rafael Devers to line out to center but then issued a four-pitch walk of his own to Xander Bogaerts, loading the bases. Alex Verdugo, who had doubled in a run in the sixth, drove a ball into center field that scored two runs. But Verdugo got a bit too aggressive trying to get to second base and was thrown out to end the inning.
The damage, as they say, was done. The Sox are leading, 6-1.
Bottom 7th
Verdugo does it again, putting the Sox up, 6-1.
A single drove in two runs, but Alex Verdugo was thrown out trying to reach second base.
Eight straight balls put two batters on base with one out and that was it for Jonathan Loaisiga, who was relieved by Chad Green. The Yankees desperately need to keep the score where it is.
Facing a new Boston reliever in Tanner Houck, Gleyber Torres went down quietly to start the inning, flying out to center field. That out made Yankees leadoff batters a woeful 0 for 7.
Brett Gardner followed Torres by striking out on three pitches, going down on strikes for the third time. And then Gio Urshela struck out to end the inning. Yankees batters have just six more outs to work with in this game, and Boston’s pitchers have a three-run cushion.
After Rafael Devers struck out on seven pitches to start the half-inning, Xander Bogaerts drew a four-pitch walk. His presence on base seemed to spook Luis Severino a bit, as after a pickoff attempt the Yankees’ infield gathered at the mound to discuss strategy. Worrying about Bogaerts’s speed made sense, as when Alex Verdugo doubled to right, Bogaerts scored all the way from first — even after some confusion at third base led to a play at the plate that was a bit too close for Boston’s comfort.
Bogaerts did his best Jeremy Giambi impression, crossing home standing up as Kyle Higashioka reached to tag him. But unlike Giambi, he was safe.
Jonathan Loaisiga came on in relief of Severino, inheriting a runner on second with one out, and he proceeded to make things worse by walking Hunter Renfroe. But Loaisiga then kicked into gear, getting out of the inning by striking out pinch-hitter Travis Shaw and first baseman Bobby Dalbec. But Boston’s lead got larger, which is a problem for the Yankees.
Bottom 6th
Verdugo’s double puts the Sox up, 4-1.
A mixed-up signal at third resulted in an awkward play at the plate, but Xander Bogaerts was able to score.
Hoping for some magic, Aaron Boone yanked Andrew Velazquez and sent Rougned Odor to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Nathan Eovaldi needed only three pitches against Odor to record his eighth strikeout. The magic Boone was hoping for came one batter later, when Anthony Rizzo put the Yankees on the board with a solo homer into the right field seats with just a bit of help from Fenway’s odd dimensions.
Aaron Judge reached base with an infield single and that was it for Eovaldi, who went from ridiculously dominant to out of the game in the span of two batters. The move looked horrific at first, as Giancarlo Stanton crushed a ball to center off Ryan Brasier, but Judge got greedy and tried to score. He was thrown out at home thanks to a beautiful relay from center fielder Enrique Hernandez to shortstop Xander Bogaerts to catcher Kevin Plawecki. Bogaerts’s throw in particular was comically perfect.
With a runner on second and two outs, Brasier got Joey Gallo to pop out to third to end the inning. The Yankees got a run, but it felt like they should have gotten at least two if not for a bad call to send Judge on Stanton’s hit.
The Red Sox had 43 outfield assists this year, the most in baseball. Not a good call to send Aaron Judge there by Phil Nevin, and the Red Sox made the Yankees pay for it as Enrique Hernandez throws to Bogaerts and on to Plawecki to get Judge sliding in hands first at home.
Reporting from Fenway Park
Nathan Eovaldi was cruising, retiring 11 Yankees in row before coughing up a solo blast to Anthony Rizzo with one out in the top of the sixth inning. After an Aaron Judge infield single, Red Sox Manager Alex Cora hooked Eovaldi, whose performance traditionally slips the third time he faces an opponent during a game. Still, it was an aggressive move by Cora.
Anthony Rizzo gets the Yankees on the board, 3-1.
The mid-season acquisition squared up on a curveball and sent it into the right field seats.
Luis Severino, the one-time ace of the Yankees who is still working his way back to full-strength after a series of injuries, came on in relief of Clay Holmes to start the fifth. He retired Christian Arroyo quickly on a groundout to second and fought through a six-pitch at-bat by Kyle Schwarber that ended in a groundout to first.
With two down and Enrique Hernandez at the plate, Severino got ahead in the count, 0-2, and then ended things by getting Hernandez to fly out to right. So far, the Yankees’ bullpen has done an excellent job of settling things down following Gerrit Cole’s rough start.
Reporting from Fenway Park
This is only Luis Severino’s fifth appearance of 2021. He returned to the major leagues in late September after undergoing Tommy John surgery in spring of 2020 and enduring setbacks. A two-time All Star as a starting pitcher, the Yankees have eased Severino back into action in the bullpen.
Which one of tonight’s starters is the $324 million ace?
Eovaldi struck out Brett Gardner on six pitches, ending his second at-bat with a 97-m.p.h. fastball. He got Gio Urshela to fly out to left on the first pitch he saw. He then struck out Kyle Higashioka on four pitches to end the inning. That is 10 straight batters retired by Eovaldi, who is up to seven strikeouts.
With Clay Holmes back on the mound after his third inning heroics, the Yankees tried to get strategic against Hunter Renfroe by utilizing a shift. Boston’s right fielder made them pay for that strategy (temporarily) by poking a single into right. But just as he had done the previous inning, Holmes calmly induced a double-play, with Kevin Plawecki and Renfroe being retired 4-6-3.
With the bases empty for Bobby Dalbec, Boston’s first baseman ended things quietly by flying out to right field on the second pitch he saw.
The Red Sox signed Jose Iglesias in September and he hit .356 for them and was a very useful second baseman. But because he joined the team after Aug. 31, he was not eligible for the postseason. Alex Cora said that Iglesias would remain with the club as long as they remain alive, even though he cannot play, so there was some question about what he would do. So far he is pushing the home run hitters through the dugout in Boston’s laundry-hamper celebrations
Nathan Eovaldi got his fifth strikeout of the night by hurling a 100-m.p.h. four-seamer past Giancarlo Stanton’s mighty bat. He then retired Joey Gallo and Gleyber Torres on fly balls to center field. He has now retired seven straight batters.
This is not looking like it was a good night for the Yankees to hand Eovaldi an early 3-0 lead.
We told the Yankees to watch out for Kyle Schwarber! Boston’s designated hitter absolutely demolished a 97-m.p.h. fastball from Gerrit Cole to lead off the half-inning, giving Boston a 3-0 lead. It just so happens that Schwarber had done the same thing the last time he had faced Cole in a wild-card game, back in the 2015 National League game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs.
A single by Enrique Hernandez and a walk to Rafael Devers was all Manager Aaron Boone needed to see, and he pulled his ace out of the game after 50 pitches and two-plus innings.
Clay Holmes came on in relief of Cole, with two men on base and no outs, and he bailed out the team’s ace in a big way, striking out Xander Bogaerts and then getting Alex Verdugo to ground into a double-play to end the inning.
Reporting from Fenway Park
Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ ace and $324 million man, is out of the game, a stunning turn of events for the Yankees. He allowed three runs on two home runs, including a third-inning solo blast by Kyle Schwarber, who admired his handiwork as it sailed past the right field fence. Cole then coughed up a single and a walk, and was hooked by Manager Aaron Boone. He strolled to the Yankees’ dugout with his head down. Clay Holmes is now in the game, and the Yankees are in a bind.
Reporting from Fenway Park
A lot is made of Gerrit Cole’s transformation to an ace in Houston and New York, but he was excellent for Pittsburgh in 2015: 19-8 with a 2.60 E.R.A. The Pirates handed him the ball for their wild-card game … and it turned out a lot like this start, so far. Facing the Cubs that night, Cole gave up a third-inning homer to Kyle Schwarber, just like he did tonight. But Cole worked 5 innings that night, and now he’s gone with nobody out in the third.
Bottom 3rd
Kyle Schwarber’s homer has Boston up, 3-0.
Boston’s leadoff batter crushed a ball off Gerrit Cole, something he’s been known to do.
Andrew Velazquez’s first postseason at-bat lasted all of one pitch when he flied out to left on a 98-m.p.h. fastball. Anthony Rizzo managed to get Nathan Eovaldi to throw him nine pitches, but struck out on a four-seam fastball that he was woefully late on.
That brought up Aaron Judge, who mimicked Velazquez by flying out to center on the first pitch he saw, giving Eovaldi the unusual 1-9-1 11-pitch inning.
Big pitchers get big strikeouts. Gerrit Cole recorded his first of the game by throwing a knuckle-curve past Hunter Renfroe for strike three to start the half-inning. That good feeling was briefly set aside when Kevin Plawecki (a guy in the game for his defense behind the plate) smacked a 2-2 fastball into center for a double that just nicked the bottom of the wall.
Bobby Dalbec, who came up to chants of his name from the crowd at Fenway, managed to draw six pitches out of Cole before watching the seventh, a slider, sail past him for strike three. Cole then got his third strikeout of the inning by throwing a 99-m.p.h. fastball past a swinging Christian Arroyo.
So he may be an inning late, but the Yankees’ ace has arrived.
Reporting from Fenway Park
Gerrit Cole, who is getting chants of “Geeeeerit! Geeeeerit!” from the Fenway Park crowd, doesn’t have particularly sharp command so far against the Red Sox. He has been missing over the heart of the plate too often, including on that first-inning homer by Xander Bogaerts and second-inning double by Kevin Plawecki. Cole left a Sept. 7 start early with hamstring tightness and returned to the mound a week later. Even though he had a rough end to the season — a 5.13 earned run average in September — he has insisted his hamstring was “good,” including again on Monday when speaking with reporters.
Reporting from Fenway Park
That was the first postseason at-bat for Red Sox catcher Kevin Plawecki, and he drilled a double off the wall in deep right-center. Good for him; the poor guy was active for the Mets throughout their run to the 2015 World Series, as the backup to Travis d’Arnaud, but he never got to play in a game.
In a six-pitch at-bat, Gleyber Torres saw four pitches that were 98 miles an hour or faster. He eventually lined out to Boston right fielder Hunter Renfroe. Brett Gardner saw a 100-m.p.h. fastball in a five-pitch at-bat, but struck out on an 80-m.p.h curve. And after Gio Urshela beat out an infield single (so much for his hurt thigh!) Eovaldi took care of business with a five-pitch strikeout of Kyle Higashioka that ended with the backup catcher failing to check his swing on a great curveball.
Eovaldi definitely has good stuff tonight.
Reporting from Fenway Park
OK, can I rant here about the Red Sox’ red jerseys? Their primary home uniform is supposed to be their famous, pristine white jersey. How many times did they wear it this season? 35. They wore their red “alternate” jerseys 37 times, which would seem to mean they’re not actually the “alternate.” Anyway, they’re wearing the red tonight, which is a shame — but at least it’s not the canary-yellow “City Connect” jersey. For the record, the Red Sox had a .611 winning percentage in the reds, a .556 winning percentage in the regular whites … and a .750 mark in the yellows.
Gerrit Cole has put himself in a hole.
Kyle Schwarber started off the bottom of the first with a long out to center and Enrique Hernandez popped out to second on the second pitch he saw from Cole. That brought up Rafael Devers, who broke out in a huge way for Boston this season. Cole got ahead with a 1-2 count, and showed a little old-school flair by backing Devers off the plate with a 99 mile-per-hour fastball. But Cole then missed with two pitches to issue a walk. That was a big mistake.
Xander Bogaerts came up fourth and made Cole pay for the walk. With a 2-1 count, Cole threw an 89-m.p.h. changeup and Bogaerts drove it over the fence in center for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead. Cole recovered to retire Alex Verdugo on a pop fly to second, but the damage was done.
The home run was clocked at 108 miles per hour, the third-hardest hit ball of the year by Bogaerts.
Xander Bogaerts was slumping heading into the wild-card game, with only five extra-base hits in the months of September and October.
Bottom 1st
Bogaerts gives Boston a 2-0 lead.
A two-out home run to center field made Gerrit Cole pay for a walk.
When the Red Sox acquired Kyle Schwarber from Washington on July 29, Red Sox fans grumbled that they got the consolation prize, mainly because they didn’t get Anthony Rizzo. That feeling was exacerbated after Rizzo hit three home runs and batted .400 in his first six games as a Yankee after coming over from the Cubs, while Schwarber was hurt and didn’t play for the first two weeks after the trade deadline.
Since then, Schwarber has been one of the most impactful offensive players moved at the deadline, as good as an M.V.P. candidate during that same span.
Since his first game with the Red Sox on Aug. 13, Schwarber has 10 doubles, seven homers and 18 runs batted in and his on-base plus slugging percentage is .957. That is one percentage point higher than the figure posted by Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. over the same time period. Granted, Guerrero had a 1.002 O.P.S. during the entire season, and is a better player. But for the last six weeks of the season, Schwarber has been better than expected for Boston.