The Redd Blog

NEW YORK — The Yankees beat the Red Sox 9-2 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night. The win completed a two-game sweep of the AL Wild Card Series and sent New York to the Division Series for the third straight season.

Game 2 was tight until the sixth inning. Then a Boston bullpen collapse and a three-run homer from Cody Bellinger turned a 2-1 game into a rout. The Yankees outscored Boston 18-2 over the two games, following up Tuesday’s 9-0 shutout in Game 1.

A Pitchers’ Duel Gives Way

Max Fried and Sonny Gray traded zeroes through three innings. Fried threw 20 pitches in the first and stranded Nate Eaton at second in the third. Luis García Jr., a trade-deadline acquisition, broke the tie in the fourth. He homered to right-center off a Gray slider.

García hit six homers with a .927 OPS at Yankee Stadium after the trade. That is the kind of production the Yankees wanted from him in the short right-field porch.

Boston manager Chad Tracy pulled Gray with two outs in the fifth after only 70 pitches. Gray had allowed one run at that point, and he was reportedly frustrated by the move. Lefty Erik Miller came in to face Bellinger, who has hit left-handers well despite batting left-handed himself. Bellinger singled to right to make it 2-0. Eaton then threw Ben Rice out at the plate to keep the margin at two.

Gray took the loss. His line was 4⅔ innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 strikeouts and no walks.

The Sixth Inning Decides It

Willson Contreras cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the sixth. His 387-foot homer to right-center was the Red Sox’s first run of the series. It ended a 27⅔-inning scoreless streak for Boston in the round.

The Yankees answered immediately. Garrett Crochet was making his first appearance since April 25, and he retired only one of four batters.

• Spencer Jones struck out but reached on a wild pitch. He stole second and took third on a wild throw.
• George Lombard Jr. singled him home to make it 3-1.
• Trent Grisham’s sacrifice-bunt attempt went for a hit and loaded the bases with none out.
• Garrett Whitlock entered the jam. Austin Wells’s sacrifice fly and Ryan McMahon’s groundout pushed the lead to 5-1.
• Bellinger’s homer: Boston intentionally walked Rice to get to Bellinger. He hit a 360-foot three-run homer to right-center, and it was 8-1.

Nick Sogard homered for Boston in the seventh to make it 8-2. Wells’s RBI single then scored Jazz Chisholm Jr. for the final run, and Chisholm stole two bases in the inning. Aroldis Chapman struck out three in a perfect eighth.

Pitching and Performances

Fried got the win. He allowed 3 hits and 1 earned run over 6 innings, with 6 strikeouts, 1 walk and 98 pitches. He and Cam Schlittler, who threw 6⅓ scoreless innings in Game 1, became the first Yankees starters since 1999 to allow no more than one run in each of their first two postseason starts.

Bellinger drove in four runs. Rice drove in six in Game 1. The Yankees out-hit Boston 14-4 in Game 2 and 26-7 for the series.

Boston’s relievers allowed eight runs in 3⅓ innings in Game 1 and seven in 3⅓ innings in Game 2. The Red Sox hit .219/.295/.356 in September and averaged 2.96 runs per game.

Obviously, we got the home run from Willson and got the game to 2-1 and we were right in it. And once we got there, we actually had the ball turned over to the part of the bullpen for the latter part that we wanted to. And obviously that didn’t go our way.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy

What’s Next

The Yankees (93-68) play the Tampa Bay Rays (98-64) in a best-of-five ALDS that opens Saturday in St. Petersburg. Gerrit Cole is expected to start Game 1 against Drew Rasmussen. The Yankees got there without Aaron Judge, who has been on the injured list with a calf strain.

The Red Sox (87-75) saw their season end in the Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium for the second straight year. Roman Anthony had left Game 1 early with a recurrence of a hand injury. He was removed from the roster before Game 2 and replaced by Curtis Mead.

Box score and game details via ESPN and MLB.com.