Boston Red Sox
Jazz Chisholm sprinted from first all the way home to score the winning run.
The Red Sox had history on their side as they entered Wednesday’s Game 2 showdown against the Yankees.
They had won eight consecutive potential series-clinching postseason games, dating back to 2013.
Boston was also 9-1 in its last 10 playoff games against the Yankees.
Teams that have won Game 1 are 12-0 in series since the current wild card format began in 2022.
But history means nothing in the playoffs, where anything can happen in general, and especially when the Red Sox and Yankees clash.
In the latest instant classic between the two rivals, New York pulled out an intense 4-3 victory to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday.
“I thought it was a great ballgame,” said Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock. “I thought both sides played really well.”
Here are four defining moments from a Game 2 thriller that didn’t go Boston’s way.
Burned by a local kid
Yes, Ben Rice is from Cohasset. Yes, he grew up a Yankees fan. Yes, he hit a home run against the Red Sox in his first postseason at-bat. It’s all true.
Rice gave the Yankees a 2-0 edge in the first with a line-drive shot to right.
“Rice took a good swing on a cutter,” Alex Bregman told reporters.
In his last eight games against Boston, he’s hitting .360 with two homers and four RBIs.
Momentum was with New York early, as Brayan Bello lasted just 2 1/3 innings and threw only 28 pitches. Bello said he didn’t have any conversations with manager Alex Cora before the game about a potentially short leash.
“I tried to do my job, and he made the decision to take me out,” Bello told reporters through a translator.
Story time, but not storybook
With runners at first and second and one out in the third, Trevor Story smoked a single to center that scored Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela and evened the game at 2.
The Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on an Aaron Judge single – a floating ball Duran should have had that ricocheted off his glove. Duran said he gained more ground than he thought he did and acknowledged he didn’t have to do a full dive.
“This one’s going to sting a little bit,” Duran told reporters. “I know that game’s 100 percent on me.”
Story had his back, delivering again with a 381-foot solo shot to left-center to knot it at 3.
Story had a chance to give Boston the lead in the seventh after a failed Rafaela bunt attempt and successful head-first slide from Masataka Yoshida. This time, Story flew out to deep center field, eliciting an extremely demonstrative celebration from Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz.
Jazz hands
Jazz Chisholm, who made a diving stop in the top of the seventh that prevented the Red Sox from surging ahead, scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
Chisholm walked, then flew from first base all the way home on an Austin Wells single off Whitlock. The ball stayed fair by a few inches and hit off the part of the right-field wall that juts out, and the ultra-athletic Chisholm barely beat the tag at home.
Ceddanne, almost gone
In a game with many twists and turns, it briefly appeared Rafaela had a chance to tie the game once more with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Rafaela gave it a ride, but it fell just shy of the fence and Aaron Judge secured it to seal a Yankees win.
“He hit it really well,” Bregman said. “I thought it was a great swing. He’s come up with so many big swings for us.
The loss itself was deflating, but the Red Sox also depleted some of their resources Wednesday – namely Whitlock, who threw 47 pitches and admitted afterward he was tired after allowing his first run since Aug. 17.
“He’s one of our best pitchers,” Cora told reporters. “He got up there, but we were doing everything possible to get to the top of the ninth with a tie game.”
But, they still have Aroldis Chapman as needed, plus one of the best all-around bullpens in the game.
They’ll turn to rookie Connelly Early to start Thursday, looking for a signature performance to save their season. This is nothing new for the Red Sox, who are used to overcoming adversity.
“That’s our identity,” said catcher Carlos Narváez. “It’s been like that the whole season. We lay down, we get back up. Nothing changes.”
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