Article: New York State of Mind: Yankees Take Game Two In Heartbreaking Fashion

[Nick John]

In what could have been a sweep of their rivals, the Red Sox instead dropped the ball and lost 4-3, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 on Oct. 2. The only positive is that the Red Sox won Game 1, giving them the opportunity to only need one win out of their next two games.

The team is now in a position where their season on the line and their bullpen is taxed.

Starter Brayan Bello was quickly knocked out of the game as he failed to get into a groove. Right away in the first inning, he surrendered a two-run home run to Yankee slugger Ben Rice as Boston fell behind 2-0 right from the get-go. Then, in the third with two runners on and one out, Alex Cora went to his bullpen early. Six different arms were used from that point on, as the only arms who didn’t get into the game were Kyle Harrison, Greg Weissert and Aroldis Chapman. The offense besides Trevor Story was practically nonexistent, as the shortstop had a third of the team’s total hits and all their RBIs.

The Red Sox will now send Connelly Early to the mound in Game 3 to extend their season while the Yankees will counter with Cam Schlittler. Both pitchers are young rookies, and one team has a more rested bullpen than the other after tonight’s game.

For now, let’s review the most impactful plays from the game, per WPA via Baseball Savant:

3) Top sixth: Trevor Story hits a home run off of Carlos Rodón. Ties the game 3-3. +16.7% Win Expectancy

The theme of the night was the Red Sox constantly fighting back to tie the game, and the top of the sixth was no different. After a misplay in left field by Jarren Duran that saw him drop what would have been the third out and allow the Yankees to take a 3-2 lead, Story came up to bat to lead off the sixth.

Story was the only real offensive force for the Red Sox, driving in his third run of the night thanks to his first home run of the postseason. Story worked the count well, laying off of the first two pitches to get ahead in the count 2-0 before getting a 95 mph fastball right down the middle. Story didn’t miss his chance, turning on the pitch and depositing it into the left field seats to tie the game.

2) Bottom first: Ben Rice hits a home run off of Brayan Bello. Rice and Cody Bellinger score. -19.1% Win Expectancy

The Yankees started the night off rather loudly, as Rice stepped to the plate with two outs. After getting both Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge out rather quickly, Bello stumbled as he allowed a Bellinger single followed by his biggest mistake of the night.

Throwing a first pitch cutter, Bello missed his spot and Rice did not miss. Rice launched the ball 364 feet into right field as Yankee Stadium erupted from the early lead. Rice, a lefty who was not in the lineup for Game 1 due to Garrett Crochet being on the mound, immediately showed why he was a key bat in the Yankees’ lineup all season.

1) Bottom eighth: Austin Wells singles off Garrett Whitlock. Jazz Chisholm scores. -30.6% Win Expectancy

In what would be the game=deciding hit, Wells managed to do what very few hitters have done to Whitlock in the second half: drive in a run off of him. With Chisholm on first base after a two-out walk, it was clear that Whitlock was losing steam. Having been limited to just one inning per outing since roughly a third of the way through the season, the right-hander wasn’t used to throwing so many pitches and it showed, as Wells worked a seven pitch at-bat that culminated in an RBI single to drive in the winning run.

Taking a changeup that was down and in, Wells deposited it into right field where Nate Eaton, and not WIlyer Abreu, was playing. The ball, which ricocheted off of the wall down the first base line, bounced away from Eaton and allowed Chisholm to round third base all the way from first. Eaton still made the play close, but Chisholm slid in just before the throw and gave the Yankees the lead for the rest of the game

Some will question and wonder if the out is made if Abreu had entered the game defensively. He is a Gold Glove outfielder with a stronger arm than Eaton, but there is still no guarantee given to the way the ball bounced around in the outfield. The bigger issue should be the way the Red Sox squandered many opportunities offensively, most importantly having two runners on with no outs in the top of the seventh inning.

Next up:

The Red Sox and Yankees will conclude their Wild Card series with Game 3 taking place at Yankee Stadium tomorrow, October 2. The game will be full of tension, as whoever comes out on top will head to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays in the ALDS.

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