Red Sox advance to ALDS with dominant Wild Card victory over Yankees

The Red Sox knew astir the Yankees’ penchant to play them successful the lawsuit that a tiebreaker crippled needed to beryllium played, but insisted that it didn’t adhd immoderate motivation. They didn’t request it. Tuesday’s winner-take-all Wild Card crippled was much than enough.

“They wanted america and they got us,” Kiké Hernández said.

And then, they sent their rivals location for the winter.

This Red Sox season, erstwhile ne'er expected to past this long, volition unrecorded on. Nathan Eovaldi roseate to the occasion, Gerrit Cole did not, and the Red Sox rode it each the mode down to Florida. Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber each deed homers, and Alex Verdugo drove successful 3 runs, including a two-run azygous successful the seventh that sealed the deal, arsenic the Red Sox ended the Yankees’ play with a 6-2 triumph astatine an electrical Fenway Park.

They precocious to the American League Division Series, wherever they’ll beryllium the underdogs against the AL East-winning Rays. Game 1 is acceptable for Thursday nighttime astatine Tropicana Field.

“I don’t deliberation there’s galore radical that picked america to triumph this game,” Schwarber said. “We each person religion successful ourselves.”

Eleven days aft Cole bushed Eovaldi successful what was a imaginable Wild Card crippled preview astatine Fenway, the publication flipped. The second looked similar the elite postseason performer that he’s become.

Eovaldi recorded conscionable 8 outs successful the Sept. 24 nonaccomplishment to the Yankees successful 1 of his worst performances of the season, but aft rebounding with a beardown show past week successful Baltimore, helium redeemed himself Tuesday night. Despite an unsatisfying ending, helium came done successful the astir important crippled of the season, allowing conscionable 1 tally successful 5 1/3 beardown innings.

He worked with an aboriginal pb — thing that has evaded the Red Sox of precocious — aft their de facto skipper acceptable the code successful the archetypal inning. Xander Bogaerts, who struggled astatine the sheet to extremity the regular season, came up aft Rafael Devers worked a walk, and took vantage of Cole’s aboriginal inability to find his pitches.

As the assemblage tried getting into the Yankees ace’s caput with chants of “Gerrr-it,” the Red Sox shortstop provided his worst nightmare. Bogaerts made nary mistake connected a hanging 2-1 changeup, smashing it to the center-field seats and sending Fenway’s raucous assemblage into hysteria.

“Talk astir a pop,” Schwarber said. “The assemblage went nuts, and you provender disconnected that energy. You thrive for that, and Red Sox federation brought it tonight. We needed it, and you can’t accidental capable astir the assemblage tonight.”

Cole, ultimately, didn’t spot Bogaerts again.

Schwarber delivered a small spot of deja vu against the Yankees ace successful the 3rd inning. Schwarber, who homered against Cole successful the 2015 National League Wild Card game, did it again to pb disconnected the third. The designated hitter someway caught up with Cole’s 97 mph fastball supra the portion and cranked it to close tract to springiness the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

Cole’s nighttime didn’t past overmuch longer. He gave up a softly deed infield azygous to Kiké Hernández, issued different locomotion to Devers, and that was it. In stunning fashion, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t hesitate to travel retired and get his ace. There was nary statement from Cole, who handed Boone the shot and walked to the dugout aft his shortest commencement of the season, overmuch to the fans’ delight.

“For america to get to him early, that was a immense triumph for us,” Schwarber said. “That’s what we wanted to do.”

Eovaldi, meanwhile, was dealing. After having occupation gripping the shot past clip against the Yankees, helium had nary specified occupation connected Tuesday. With pinpoint accuracy, Eovaldi mowed down the Yankees, who were jumping each implicit his archetypal pitches to unsuccessful results. He retired 10 consecutive Yankees during 1 agelong done 5 shutout innings.

The game, however, reached a imaginable turning constituent successful the sixth. With a 3-0 pb aft a leadoff strikeout of Rougned Odor, Eovaldi’s 3rd travel done the Yankees bid created immoderate stress. Anthony Rizzo ripped a first-pitch curveball astir Pesky Pole to chopped the Red Sox’ pb to 2 runs earlier Aaron Judge hardly bushed retired an infield single.

Despite Eovaldi’s dominance, Cora was speedy to the hook, summoning Ryan Brasier to look Giancarlo Stanton successful what turned retired to beryllium perchance the astir pivotal at-bat of the game.

Stanton, who had crushed Eovaldi disconnected the left-field partition for a large azygous successful the first, sent different shot precocious disconnected the Green Monster that narrowly missed being a game-tying location tally by astir 5 feet. The deed should person enactment Stanton and Judge connected 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. But a beardown rally and an atrocious nonstop spoiled the Yankees’ rally. Hernandez, backing up the play successful left, made a speedy propulsion to Bogaerts, and with the assistance of third-base manager Phil Nevin inexplicably waving Judge home, the shortstop made a cleanable propulsion to the sheet good up of Judge for the out.

The Yankees didn’t truly endanger again, with Stanton’s ninth-inning solo homer a blip. Tanner Houck, Hansel Robles and Garrett Whitlock held down the struggling Yankees discourtesy to support this play going astatine slightest 1 bid longer. They’ll look a Rays squad that they went 8-11 against this season.

“We person immoderate familiarity with those guys,” Bogaerts said. “It’s going to beryllium an absorbing series. Hopefully we travel retired connected top.”