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Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tVincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0Lefty? Righty? The platoon-heavy Yankees will beat your frontline starter regardless of handedness, and their frontline starter will shut your offense down. That was the case, at least, in this year\u2019s Wild Card Series between the Yankees and the Red Sox. After fireballing righty Cam Schlittler<\/a> overwhelmed Boston in Tuesday night\u2019s opener<\/a>, lefty Max Fried<\/a> stifled the Sox for six innings on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a lineup stacked with eight lefty hitters \u2014\u00a0and again, no Aaron Judge<\/a> \u2014 pressed Red Sox manager Chad Tracy<\/a> to pull starter Sonny Gray<\/a> after just 70 pitches, trailing 1-0. As on Tuesday night, the Yankees broke the game open against Boston\u2019s lefty relievers. New York cruised to a 9-2 victory and a series sweep.<\/p>\n As he did in Game 1 of the 2025 Wild Card Series<\/a> against the Red Sox, Fried pitched brilliantly. He held Boston scoreless through the first five innings on just two hits before allowing a solo home run to Willson Contreras<\/a> with two outs in the sixth. It wasn\u2019t just Boston\u2019s first home run of the series, it was the team\u2019s first run in a playoff game since the sixth inning of Game 2 of last year\u2019s series, a span of 26 2\/3 innings. Fried struck out six while walking one; though he got just nine whiffs (18.8%) and a 23.5% called strike and whiff rate, he allowed just three hard-hit balls and an average exit velocity of 85.3 mph. He threw 98 pitches, and when the Yankees broke through for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, it was an easy call for manager Aaron Boone<\/a> to go to his bullpen.<\/p>\n With Judge sidelined by a right calf strain, the Yankees opted to carry 16 position players<\/a> and just 10 pitchers for the best-of-three series. Particularly given Boston\u2019s lefty-heavy pitching staff<\/a>, this roster construction allowed the Yankees to counter by platooning at four positions. Against lefty Payton Tolle<\/a>, the only lefties in the New York lineup were Ben Rice<\/a>, Cody Bellinger<\/a>, and Spencer Jones<\/a>, but against Gray, Boone plugged in Luis Garcia Jr.<\/a> for Paul Goldschmidt<\/a> at first base, Jazz Chisholm Jr.<\/a> for Anthony Volpe<\/a> at second base, Trent Grisham<\/a> in center for Heliot Ramos<\/a> in right (with Jones shifting from center to right), and Ryan McMahon<\/a> for Amed Rosario<\/a> at third base. All four contributed to the Yankees\u2019 14-hit attack, with Garc\u00eda going 3-for-5, including a solo homer off Gray; Chisholm 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, and two runs scored; Grisham 2-for-3 with a pivotal bunt single, a walk, and a run scored; and McMahon 1-for-3 with an RBI groundout. Bellinger went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, against a lefty, and a three-run homer off righty Garrett Whitlock<\/a>, and Austin Wells<\/a> drove in a pair of runs on a single and sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n FanGraphs Playoff Coverage Is for Members<\/p>\n