{"id":361552,"date":"2026-10-01T05:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361552\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T05:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:08:24","slug":"yankees-destroy-red-sox-in-wild-card-series-sweep-to-set-up-alds-date-with-rays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361552\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees destroy Red Sox in wild-card series sweep to set up ALDS date with Rays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtually nothing has come easy for the Yankees this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the AL wild-card series just did \u2014 at least they made it look that way, even without Aaron Judge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A much more dangerous divisional opponent awaits, but the Yankees will be flying high into the ALDS after making light work of the Red Sox, finishing off a two-game sweep with an emphatic 9-2 win over their rivals<\/a> Wednesday night in front of a jubilant sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After fending off the pesky Red Sox for a second straight year in this opening round, the Yankees will now try to conquer the Rays, whom they could never chase down for the AL East in the final months of the regular season. Game 1 is Saturday at Tropicana Field, and unlike last year when they stretched themselves thin to beat the Red Sox and paid for it against the Blue Jays, they should enter the ALDS in a strong position to start Gerrit Cole or Carlos Rod\u00f3n, and possibly with Judge even ready to join the party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees\u2019 Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. is all smiles as he rounds the bases on his solo home run in the fourth inning on Sept. 30, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best player in baseball isn\u2019t even playing right now and we\u2019ve been dominating,\u201d said Cam Schlittler, who led the domination in Game 1. \u201cSo we\u2019re only going to get stronger when [Judge] gets back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to get it done in two. Now we\u2019re set up perfectly for Tampa.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees followed the same script in Game 2 as they did in Game 1 \u2014 a dominant starting pitcher protecting a small lead until their bats could break the game open \u2014 just with some different actors leading the way. Max Fried tossed six innings of one-run ball, nearly matching what Schlittler did Tuesday, while Cody Bellinger delivered the knockout punch<\/a> that Ben Rice did the night before, clobbering a three-run homer in the sixth inning that put the champagne on ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger is greeted by second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. after scoring on a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

New York Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones dumps champagne over designated hitter Ben Rice. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

New York Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge celebrates in the clubhouse after the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox to advance to the ALDS during Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

Emphasizing the Yankees\u2019 greatest strength \u2014 and the biggest reason they have high hopes and dreams for October \u2014 in their rotation, Fried struck out six<\/a> and scattered three hits across six innings. When Willson Contreras snuck a home run over the right field wall against him in the sixth inning, it snapped a 26-inning scoreless streak by Yankees pitchers in the postseason against the Red Sox, dating back to Game 2 of last year\u2019s AL wild-card series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been the biggest strength for us throughout the year,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cIt sustained us. It got us through some difficult times. And I feel like they\u2019re all in a good place right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrates with Trent Grisham after the final out of the ninth inning of Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox to go to the ALDS. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

Contreras\u2019 homer pulled the Red Sox within 2-1, but the Yankees found an immediate answer in the bottom of the frame, first with a steady dose of small ball before Bellinger\u2019s long ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rookie Spencer Jones provided the spark, using his speed and hustle to reach first base on a dropped third strike from Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet, who was making his first appearance since April 25. Jones then stole second and took third as the throw trickled into center field, allowing him to score on fellow rookie George Lombard Jr.\u2019s lined single that made it 3-1 in another dash of homegrown happenings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fried reacts as he walks back to the dugout after ending the fifth inning. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray is pulled from the game in the fifth inning during Game 2. Robert Sabo for New York Post<\/p>\n

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham, who were both on the bench for Game 1, followed with singles to load the bases (Grisham on a bunt to third base, with an off-target throw from Caleb Durbin).\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the Red Sox put Crochet out of his misery and brought in righty Garrett Whitlock, Austin Wells hit a sacrifice fly for the second straight night before Ryan McMahon hit a soft groundout to score another run for the 5-1 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Red Sox then intentionally walked Rice, who homered twice and drove in six runs in Game 1, but it backfired as Bellinger lifted a three-run homer to the short porch that took forever to land, the crowd entering a frenzy well before it did.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a lot of confidence in them,\u201d Judge said. \u201cGoing into the series, obviously I wanted to be out there with them, but going into it, this is a dangerous group, and they\u2019ve showed it here in this series.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The New York Yankees celebrate on the field after defeating the Boston Red Sox. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

For a second straight night, the Yankees pounced on the Red Sox bullpen once manager Chad Tracy pulled his starter early in the fifth inning of a 1-0 game \u2014 Payton Tolle in Game 1 and Sonny Gray in Game 2. And on both nights, they turned it into as much of a laugher as you will find in the playoffs, sending them full steam ahead into the ALDS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point,\u201d Chisholm said, \u201cwhen everyone\u2019s working in sync like that, especially the talent we have on this team, I feel like we\u2019re unbeatable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virtually nothing has come easy for the Yankees this year.\u00a0 But the AL wild-card series just did \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3472,13917,34720,20,5515,9,11,10,321,319],"class_list":["post-361552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-cody-bellinger","tag-max-fried","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-playoffs","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}