Yankees fall to Red Sox in dramatic wild-card loss

Last week, the Yankees reached a season-high, marching into Fenway and sweeping their most hated rival, the Red Sox, and immensely increasing their postseason chances. A week later, they slipped into the postseason and were headed back to Boston for a rematch in a one-game playoff.

It did not go as planned. The Yankees fell to the Red Sox 6-2, ending their season.

Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ $324 million ace, got the ball. But despite his huge contributions this year, he had maybe his worst start as a Yankee at possibly the worst time.

Xander Bogaerts put Boston on the board early, with a two-run homer in the 1st inning. Two innings later, Kyle Schwarber followed up with a blast of his own, making it 3-0. Two batters later, Cole was yanked after recording just six outs.

Former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi had a strong start for Boston, going 5 and a third innings and striking out eight. His only blemish was an Anthony Rizzo solo homer on the 6th, which put the Yankees on the board.

The game then proceeded to fade away from the Yankees. Alex Verdugo doubled in Bogaerts in the sixth, padding Boston’s lead back to three runs. Then in the 7th, Verdugo put the nail in the coffin by singling in two runners to make it 6-1 Boston.

The rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees dates back to over a century ago. In their latest October matchup, it’s the Red Sox who take down the Yankees. They’ll move on to take on the Rays, meanwhile, the Yankees’ season is over.

Photo Credit: “Baseball – Yankees” by Robert Gusick is licensed under (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Photo Credit: “Boston Red Sox Baseball” by Pete is licensed under (CC BY-SA 2.0)