NEW YORK — An elimination game at Yankee Stadium featuring a pop fly that drops in center field and a misplay at first base. Sound familiar?
That occurred in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, as the New York Yankees collapsed against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also took place in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the 2025 Wild Card Series, which was the exact moment when the Boston Red Sox saw their season go up in flames, as they gifted the Yankees four runs. Those were all the runs the Yankees needed to advance to face the Blue Jays in the American League Division Series, which begins Saturday in Toronto.
With their 4-0 win in Game 3, the Yankees became the first team since the wild-card round expanded in 2022 to advance to a Division Series after dropping the first game.
Following the debacle against the Dodgers, Yankees manager Aaron Boone stewed all offseason over the perception that his team was sloppy. Yes, the Yankees played poorly in the World Series — and that may have cost them a chance at a title — but the sloppiness and poor fundamentals directly reflected on him. So it was poetic that a Boone-led team played much cleaner baseball in the biggest game of its season so far.
It can also be taken a step further: Boone outmanaged his counterpart, Alex Cora, in the Wild Card Series.
The Yankees celebrate after defeating the rival Red Sox to advance to the ALDS. (Ishika Samant / Getty Images)
There has been a never-ending narrative swirling in the Yankees’ fan base that Cora runs circles around Boone. It’s not without reason. Entering this do-or-die night, New York was 5-10 against the Red Sox this season. The Yankees had been eliminated twice in the postseason by Cora’s Red Sox, including the 2021 Wild Card Game and the 2018 ALDS. But Thursday, Boone’s Yankees officially ended any talk that his club can’t beat its biggest rival.
“You go into that best-of-three, and it is pressure-filled,” Boone said. “It is against the team that you know so well, and is your rival, and they win Game 1. These guys just kept playing. Honestly, going into the night for me personally, it felt like as pressure-packed a game as I have ever been in — as a player, manager, going into a World Series, that’s clinching to go into a World Series, just because the context in my brain of what I think our team is. A great opponent. A storied opponent. Here, down one. The boys answered the bell and played great baseball these couple days.”
Boone pushed the right buttons in Games 2 and 3. In Thursday’s series decider, he trusted rookie starter Cam Schlittler to carry the Yankees through eight innings even though he could have pulled him from the game much sooner. Boone started to get right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz warm in the sixth after Trevor Story led off the inning with a single. By then, Schlittler’s pitch count was in the mid-80s. Masataka Yoshida, the only Boston batter with multiple hits against Schlittler, loomed.
Aaron Judge watched from right field, knowing that if Boone wanted to make a move to the bullpen, it would have been warranted. But Boone trusted what his eyes were telling him: Boston’s lineup was having difficulty catching up to Schlittler’s 100 mph fastball. Even after the seventh inning, when Schlittler reached 100 pitches, Boone had a brief conversation with the rookie and asked if he was good.
Schlittler said he was. So he let the kid roll.
“You go into tonight’s game where it’s like Cam’s rolling,” Judge said. “I know they got a string of lefties there that are pretty tough against him, but (Boone) played the hot hand. I think that’s what it comes down to in the postseason.
“The game’s gonna tell you what to do. Boonie did a great job, and we’ll keep that rolling in Toronto.”
Even the minor moves Boone made in Game 3 worked. He had Paul Goldschmidt pinch hit for Ben Rice, and the veteran singled off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning. Goldschmidt also had two hits in Game 1, and his presence in the lineup over Rice was a source of hysteria among some fans. Boone inserted Ryan McMahon into Game 3 as a defensive sub for Amed Rosario at third base in the sixth inning. Rosario had started the Yankees’ scoring in the fourth inning with an RBI single. Then, in the eighth inning, McMahon sprinted from third base and flipped into Boston’s dugout, catching a foul popup in spectacular fashion.
On Boston’s side, Cora mismanaged his pitching staff in Games 2 and 3. Cora went for the kill in Game 2 by pulling starter Brayan Bello after 2 1/3 innings, turning the game over to his bullpen. It was a move that had to work. Instead, it backfired.
Garrett Whitlock was forced to throw 47 pitches over 1 2/3 innings, likely eliminating him from being used in Game 3, in which he did not ultimately pitch. Whitlock told reporters Wednesday night that he was on fumes by the time Austin Wells hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning.
The next night, Cora didn’t have his bullpen warming up as the fourth inning got out of hand for rookie starter Connelly Early, with his defense doing him no favors. Early threw 33 pitches before Cora replaced him with reliever Justin Slaten. He pulled Early too late.
Boone faced criticism in Game 1 for pulling Max Fried too early, but it was the right decision. Fried’s velocity was steadily dropping and he was losing command of the zone. The issue was Luke Weaver not being able to get one out, as Boston pulled ahead. Boone did not make that “mistake” in Game 2. He rode Carlos Rodón for six innings, and the bullpen did not allow a run over the final three frames.
Aaron Boone removes Carlos Rodón from Game 2 with no outs in the seventh inning. Criticized for some of his Game 1 decisions, Boone made the right calls to win the series. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
The biggest controversy that Boone had to manage in this series was his lineup decision for Game 1. He did not have lefties Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Rice in the lineup against Boston ace Garrett Crochet. The decision wasn’t without merit. Crochet was historically good against lefties this season, holding them to a .193 on-base percentage. New York’s lefties went a combined 0-for-9 with six strikeouts against Crochet in the series opener. It did not help Boone’s cause that Chisholm and Rice were major factors in the Yankees’ Game 2 win. But Boone deserves credit for holding his team together and not letting that become a distraction that derailed their season.
A strength of Boone’s is his ability to manage relationships. No player is treated the same in the Yankees clubhouse. If Boone knows a player responds better to tough love, he’ll give it to him. If he knows a player can handle frank conversations, he’ll have them. Managing egos is one of the main job requirements for a modern-day manager. Few are better at it than Boone.
“I always stand with Booney because he always understands where I come from,” Chisholm said. “He knows I am a passionate player. He knows I wear my feelings on my sleeve. He knows I am there to compete.”
The unofficial Yankees captain, Giancarlo Stanton, had something to say as he was being doused with champagne inside the Yankees’ clubhouse Thursday night. He wants those who criticize his manager to know their words don’t bother the clubhouse. The players believe in Boone.
“That’s noise,” Stanton said. “That’s created for the drama. People love the drama.”
The Red Sox were a nuisance for the Yankees all season, but the Blue Jays were perhaps an even bigger pain. Boone blamed Toronto’s Rogers Centre’s turf for a lot of the Yankees’ struggles against the Blue Jays. Those excuses won’t work if they pop up again. Chisholm doesn’t think they will because, according to him, “The playoffs is when our season starts.”
Until the Yankees win a World Series with Boone as the manager, there will be those who doubt his ability to lead this club to a championship. But, even they must admit: He did cross off one narrative by winning this series against Boston.