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Red Sox’ fundamentals fail and other takeaways from Game 2 loss to Yankees
The Red Sox used six total relievers in what eventually resulted in a frustrating setback for Boston.
It will come down to winner-take-all Game 3 in The Bronx.
Despite Boston having several opportunities to close out the Yankees’ season, several critical lapses loomed large for the Red Sox in a 4-3 loss to New York in Game 2 of the Wild Card round.
It was a frustrating night for Alex Cora and his club, with Boston exhausting several of their relievers in an effort to close out the series — only for several squandered chances pushing their own season to the brink.
Here are six takeaways from Wednesday’s loss:
Bello gets the early hook
After Garrett Crochet spun a gem on the mound in Game 1 against the Yankees, the Red Sox liked their chances on Wednesday with Brayan Bello getting the ball in New York.
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The 26-year-old righty has dominated the Yankees in his career — sporting a 1.44 ERA across five starts at Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were a combined 4-for-31 against Bello entering the game, with the righty yet to allow a home run over 31.1 innings pitched in The Bronx.
But, despite his strong showing against Boston’s top rival, Bello was pulled by Alex Cora with one out in the bottom of the third inning.
Cora opted to turn to his relievers to counter a lefty-heavy New York lineup — with Bello taken out of the game after allowing four hits and two earned runs over his 2.1 innings of work.
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With Boston’s starter getting the hook in the early going, Cora and the Red Sox were going to need several relievers to step up in order to bridge the game to the back end of the bullpen.
“In the spot we were in with the lefties coming and all the lefties we have in the bullpen, we felt like we needed to be aggressive,” Cora told ESPN’s Buster Olney during Wednesday’s broadcast. “It’s not the perfect scenario, but like I told him, just get ready for the next one.”
Cora ultimately used six of his relievers on Wednesday in an effort to end this series in two games.
Instead, Boston will be operating with a limited bullpen on Thursday with their season on the line.
South Shore product charges Yankees
A local product landed the first punch against the Red Sox on Wednesday night.
Ben Rice — who hails from Cohasset and played high school ball at Noble & Greenough in Dedham — put New York ahead in the bottom of the first inning. In his first postseason at-bat, Rice took a first-pitch cutter from Bello and smacked it into the seats in right field for a two-run shot.
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A Yankee fan who had a poster of Derek Jeter in his bedroom while growing up in Massachusetts, Rice has tormented the Red Sox during his brief big-league career — slugging five home runs and 13 RBI in 19 career games against Boston.
Trevor Story serves as Boston’s only source of offense
In a frustrating night for Boston’s lineup, Trevor Story gave Boston a fighting chance, driving in all three of their runs in the loss.
Unlike Game 1, it didn’t take the Red Sox until the late innings to battle back against New York.
Jarren Duran started Boston’s rally in the third inning by lacing a single into center against Yankees starter Carlos Rodon. Ceddanne Rafaela — who is known for his free-swinging approach at the plate — then worked another walk.
Fresh off of putting the pressure on New York on Tuesday with his aggressive base-running, Nick Sogard set down a sacrifice bunt that Rodon couldn’t field cleanly — leading to a bases-loaded situation for Boston with no outs.
It was Rodon’s first error in a game since July 24, 2021.
Story then capitalized for Boston, punching a slider from Rodon into center field for a two-run single — knotting the game up at 2-2.
The Red Sox had a prime opportunity to tack on even more runs, but Rodon navigated out of the inning by getting Alex Bregman to ground into a double-play.
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Story was not done.
After New York took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, Story again knotted the game up in the sixth, taking a belt-high fastball from Rodon and smacking it out of the ballpark for a solo home run.
Story nearly put Boston ahead once again in the seventh, as he put a charge into a pitch with the bases loaded. But, it died near the warning track, squandering a prime scoring chance for Boston.
Duran’s drop, 7th-inning execution proves costly
Even though Duran sparked Boston’s surge in the third inning, a brutal miscue in the field allowed New York to briefly retake the lead in the fifth.
With two outs and Trent Grisham on second base, Aaron Judge took a pitch from Justin Slaten and drove a pitch into left. Duran charged the ball and appeared to track it down, but it popped out of his glove — allowing Grisham to score on what was officially ruled an RBI single for Judge.
While Story made it a new ballgame with his home run in the next inning, it was a brutal lapse by Duran in a game with little margin for error.
Those miscues carried over into the seventh in what stood as another prime chance for Boston to take the lead.
By the time Aaron Boone opted to pull Rodon in the inning, he had already walked Nate Eaton on four pitches and hit Duran — putting runners on second and first with one out.
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Rafaela attempted to move both runners over with a sacrifice bunt, but his attempt was popped up, allowing Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz to snag it out of the air for an out.
After Sogard flew out, Masataka Yoshida legged out an infield single to load the bases.
While Jazz Chisholm’s diving stop at second prevented Yoshida from driving in Eaton, Eaton should have been able to score regardless as he rounded third.
Not only is Eaton one of Boston’s top baserunners, Rice also bobbled the ball off the throw from Chisholm at first — giving Eaton ample time to score a give Boston a 4-3 lead.
Instead, Eaton hesitated and held up at third, with Story ultimately flying out to center to end that scoring threat.
Yankees strike against Whitlock
Even with the Red Sox squandering their prime scoring chance in the seventh, Boston still had to like its chances in a 3-3 game — especially with Garrett Whitlock on the mound.
But, in his second inning of work, Whitlock looked mortal for the first time in a long time.
After giving up a two-out walk to Chisholm, Whitlock was knocked for a single down the line by Yankees catcher Austin Wells. Chisholm scored all the way from first to give New York a 4-3 lead.
It stood as the first run allowed by Garrett Whitlock since Aug. 17.
Even though Whitlock has been a shutout reliever for most of the second half, the righty was gassed by the end of his outing, having thrown a season-high 47 pitches by the time Cora emerged from the dugout.
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Whitlock had not thrown more than 24 pitches since June 23.
New York did not cough up the lead in the ninth, with David Bednar setting down Wilyer Abreu, Duran, and Rafaela to close out the win for New York.
Rookie expected to start in Game 3
With a win-or-go-home bout set for Thursday night in the Bronx, the Red Sox will likely call upon a rookie to try to keep their season alive in Game 3 of the Wild Card series.
Speaking ahead of Game 2, Cora noted that there’s a “good chance” Boston will roll with lefty Connelly Early, with the southpaw pressed into the a high-stakes game after Lucas Giolito was sidelined with an elbow injury.
Early has been impressive in four starts with Boston, sporting a 1-2 record with a 2.33 ERA. Still, Early just made his big-league debut on Sept. 9, and Cora also exhausted a hefty portion of his bullpen after giving Bello the early hook in Game 2.
The Yankees will counter with Walpole native Cam Schlittler, who is 4-3 this season in New York with a 2.96 ERA.
First pitch is set for 8:08 p.m. on Thursday from Yankee Stadium.
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