Fried, Bellinger and García lead Yankees over Red Sox 9-2 for 2-game Wild Card Series sweep
NEW YORK (AP) — Max Fried dominated Boston in the playoffs for the second straight year, Cody Bellinger and Luis García Jr. homered, and the New York Yankees romped over the Red Sox 9-2 Wednesday night for a two-game AL Wild Card Series sweep.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead after Willson Contreras homered to end Boston's 26-inning postseason scoreless streak, the Yankees broke the game open with a six-run sixth after Spencer Jones reached on a wild pitch while striking out leading off — with the help of a video review.
García, acquired at the trade deadline, had three hits in his first postseason start, and Bellinger had four RBIs that included a three-run homer capping the sixth-inning burst that put New York ahead 8-1.
New York will face AL East champion Tampa Bay in an AL Division Series starting Saturday.
“Step one,” Bellinger said. “Now we got to go into Tampa and play against a tough team."
Boston, which reached the playoffs after rebounding from a 32-46 start, was eliminated by the Yankees in the first round for the second straight year.
“Regardless of all the special things that happened this summer, and there was quite a few, the goal is to win the World Series and that ended for us tonight, so it’s frustrating,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. “There’s a lot of things you can say, but in the moment right now, I think the guys only care that we lost. And it’s going to take some time to get over that.”
Boston was held to a .117 average in the series (7 for 60) with 18 strikeouts and was outscored 18-2.
“That was very satisfying to play that well in these two games,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “They played great and beat a really good team that deserves a lot of credit for, was down and out in the middle of the season and fought their way back to being a no-doubt into the playoffs by the end.”
A day after Cam Schlittler led New York to a 9-0 win, Fried pitched three-hit ball over six innings to win a postseason game for the first time since the 2021 World Series clincher with Atlanta.
New York started eight left-handed hitters against Sonny Gray, back on the mound where his career derailed during a dismal Yankees stretch in 2017 and ’18.
García's fourth-inning homer put the Yankees ahead and Bellinger, one of the top lefty-on-lefty hitters in the major leagues, added a fifth-inning RBI single against left-handed Erik Miller, who had just relieved. Bellinger caught the ceremonial first pitch from his dad, Clay Bellinger, who won a World Series with New York in 2000.
Jones struck out both to start and end the bottom of the sixth, a weird half-inning that included a wild pitch, throwing error, stolen base, bunt single and intentional walk to Ben Rice that preceded Bellinger's homer.
“Baseball can be a wacky sport,” Bellinger said.
Garrett Crochet, who beat the Yankees in last year's Wild Card Series opener, hadn't pitched since April 25 because of left shoulder inflammation when he bounced a sweeper off Adley Rutschman's chest. The catcher picked up the ball and threw to first, where umpire John Libka signaled that Jones was out. The Yankees appealed and the call was reversed by the video umpire at the commissioner's office.
“I couldn’t believe he was there,” Boone said. "I saw the ball squirt away a little bit. I didn’t think that much of it, and looked up and I was, like, 'Oh, he’s safe.'''
Jones, who debuted in May, scored three runs in the series to tie fellow rookie George Lombard Jr. and Rice for the team lead.
“It’s a great thing to be able to get on the bases I guess anyway possible," Jones said. "I was always told if you run hard, good things are going to happen.”
but I was always told if you run hard, good things are going to happen and that turned out to be the case.”
Jones swiped second and kept going to third when Rutschman’s throw skipped into center. Lombard singled for his first postseason RBI, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Trent Grisham loaded the bases with a bunt single.
Austin Wells' sacrifice fly against Garrett Whitlock increased the lead to 4-1, Ryan McMahon hit an RBI groundout and Rice, who had four hits and six RBIs in the opener, was intentionally walked. Bellinger reached down and pulled a changeup into the right-center field seats.
Fried struck out six and walked one. He has allowed one run over 12 1/3 innings in the two Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
“Definitely wasn’t sharp from the get-go but just wanted to challenge them, not try to give any free passes, especially in the first inning," Fried said.
Nick Sogard hit a solo homer off Will Warren in the seventh.
New York RHP Gerrit Cole (10-9, 3.61), who would have started a third game against Boston, is likely to start Game 1 against the Rays.
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