M.L.B. Postseason: How the Red Sox Beat the Yankees in the A.L. Wild-Card Game (Published 2021) (2024)

Bucky Dent was in the stadium, the calendar said October, and each team needed to win to keep its season alive. It had been 43 years since Dent’s famous home run helped the Yankees win the last elimination game between these storied rivals at Fenway Park, and nearly a half-century later, Boston finally got a small measure of revenge for that particular game.

This time Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber hit home runs off Gerrit Cole, as the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 6-2, in the American League wild-card game. Boston advances to an A.L. division series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the best team in the A.L. during the regular season.

Former Yankees farmhand Garrett Whitlock came into the game to start the ninth and he ended his old club’s season.

It wasn’t entirely clean. With one out, Giancarlo Stanton wrapped a fly ball around the Pesky Pole in right field to make the game 6-2. But that wasn’t nearly enough, as Whitlock got both Joey Gallo and Gleyber Torres to fly out to right to end the game. The Red Sox will advance to a division series matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, while the Yankees’ season, which once held so much promise, is over.

Chad Green was back out to start the eighth, and he started things off with a quick strikeout of Hunter Renfroe. Christian Vazquez, making his first plate appearance of the game, also struck out. That left things up to Bobby Dalbec, who grounded out to third.

It all comes down to the top of the ninth, with the Yankees’ season on the brink of devastating collapse.

Needless to say … former Yankees farmhand Garrett Whitlock, lost in the Rule 5 draft, is the reliever coming in to close out the Yanks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.