Article: End Of A Season: Yankees Send Red Sox Packing in Brutal Game 3 Showing

[Nick John]

The Red Sox entered Thursday night with the hope of beating their rivals and advancing onto the Division Series to play against the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as their lineup was completely shut down by a 24-year-old from Walpole, Massachusetts.

The Red Sox meanwhile sent 23-year-old Connelly Early to the mound with the hope that he could take down the Yankees and extend their season. Through the first three innings that looked possible. Then, the fourth inning occurred, where Early was let down by his defense as he surrendered four hits in the inning, three of which could have very likely been outs. In what should have been an inning where only one or two runs at worse scored, the team was instead trailing 4-0 when manager Alex Cora went to Justin Slaten with two outs.

The offense for the Red Sox was nonexistent as they scattered five hits off of Schlitter who absolutely dominated the lineup on his way to eight shutout innings and 12 strikeouts. Of those in the lineup, it felt like only Masataka Yoshida showed up to play, as he contributed two of the five hits on the night.

The season is officially over now, and the Red Sox will have some time to plan what is in store with the roster. One thing is certain though: changes will have to be made to improve the team and make sure a step forward is taken.

For the final time this series, let’s review the most impactful plays from the game, per WPA via Baseball Savant:

3) Bottom fourth: Austin Wells reaches on a fielder’s choice. Amed Rosario and Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. -7.5% Win Expectancy

With things starting to fall apart due to sloppy defense in the fourth, the Yankees continued to take advantage. Wells would go on to hit a groundball to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who couldn’t pick it. Instead of landing in his glove, the ball instead skipped off of it and rolled to the outfield as the Yankees scored their third and fourth runs of the evening.

Lowe, who is typically a good defender (he previously won a Gold Glove award), played the ball awkwardly, trying to backhand it in hopes of turning two and ending the inning. Instead, the ball bounced off the tip of his glove and allowed the Yankees to tack on two runs. With the way the offense had been performing for Boston, the play really sunk their chances of winning.

2) Bottom fourth: Anthony Volpe singles to right field. Giancarlo Stanton scores. -7.7% Win Expectancy

With the bases loaded and one out, Volpe came to the plate looking to do some damage for the Yankees. Despite Early having pitched well entering the fourth, things began to fall apart as he got himself into trouble. Volpe took an 0-1 fastball that was up and in and forced it past a shifted Romy Gonzalez into right field.

It was a good piece of hitting by Volpe, taking a pitch meant to jam him and instead turning it into a base hit and RBI, allowing the Yankees to take a 2-0 lead.

1) Bottom fourth: Amed Rosario singles to right field. Cody Bellinger scores -12% Win Expectancy

The first big blow of the night came from Rosario, as he came to the plate with two runners on and just one out. Ahead in the count 1-0, Rosario was not under much pressure as he took an outside changeup and pulled it towards Trevor Story. The shortstop made a valiant attempt, diving towards the ball, but it just got past him and into left field.

Bellinger right away continued to round third towards home as the Yankees challenged Jarren Duran to make the play at the plate with his arm. Duran came up throwing a one-hopper to Carlos Narvaez that was a bit off the mark. It didn't really matter, as Bellinger was already sliding across home plate as the ball was caught. The Yankees would take the lead with the first run of the game, and they went on to mount their aforementioned rally that shut the door on Boston.

Next up:

The Red Sox are officially done for the season and will begin their offseason prep. There are plenty of questions surrounding the team after their season ended, especially toward both the offense and pitching. The bullpen may be the only part without much concern after their fantastic run, though it will never hurt to look to upgrade as relievers are volatile in their performance.

If you really want to look ahead, the next game for the Red Sox will most likely be on Friday, February 20 against Northeastern University, as part of their spring training tune up.

View full article

[Maxbialystock]

I'm sure all those comments are valid and on target, but the simple fact--ABOVE ALL OTHERS IN SIGNIFICANCE--is that Schlittler went 8 IP giving up 0 runs.  1 or 2 runs would have been plenty.

I do not consider last night's game "brutal."  It was in fact overdue because the Sox, with just one good starter, Crochet, vs the Yankees 3 good starters and the best lineup in MLB were always a long shot. 

Despite that, Crochet was amazing in game 1 and the Sox got those 2 crucial runs off Yoshida's single which followed Sogard stretching a single into a double putting runners on 2d and 3d.  

Wednesday night the Sox had a shot despite Bello's miserable start (2.1IP and 2 ER) and going again against a pretty good Yankees starter.  If Duran catches that Judge liner, which popped out of his glove (yet again) in the 5th, the score stays a 2-2 with the Sox scoring 1 more run and the Yankees as well.  

 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Last year Breslow had to do only a few things to significantly improve the Red Sox.  As I dig into my archive I see last year's list:

1 - Fire Cora (NOT DONE)

2 - Move Devers to DH or trade him (DONE)

3 - Add two quality SPs to the top of the rotation

     a - Crochet (DONE)

     b - Buehler (DONE but didn't work)

 

Was Breslow successful?  He missed on the first item on the list which ultimately hurt the team and probably cost them the Division Championship and the bye in the first round.  He made up for it to some degree by not just trading Devers but not incurring a pay down while dumping him.  Brilliant move!!

He hit a home run with Crochet and struck out on Buehler.  He picked up Lowe which was needed for a long time but came in time to help make the playoffs.  He's drafted very well but he gave away one of the most key prospects in Teel and kept the most over-rated prospect in the injury prone Mayer.  

I give Breslow a B+ which was a huge jump in success from Bloom's series of Fs.  He's no Dombrowski because he didn't return a Division Title or three in his first year and beyond while dealing with an inept manager that nearly cost him his final division win.  It speaks volumes to how incredible Dombrowski was to provide such a surplus of talent that even Cora could win a World Series.  That's such an amazing fact.  Dombrowski, on that one point alone, should have retired with the Red Sox!!

What does Breslow need to fix this off season?

1 - Fire Cora and bring in his own manager 

2 - Acquire a premiere top of the rotation SP to slot behind Crochet and in front of Tolle and Early.

3 - Reset the long-term positions in the outfield with Anthony in LF, Duran in CF and Rafaela in the most difficult field - RF.  Bregman at 3B, Story at SS, an OPEN (and FAIR!!) tryout for 2B among many eligible players including Campbell, Mayer, Grissom, Sogard, Gonzalez, Toro and Hamilton, an OPEN (and FAIR) tryout for 1B among Lowe, Casas and Campbell, a OPEN (and FAIR) tryout for Catcher with Narvaez, Wong and several more quality free agent catchers because Narvaez could pull a Wong and drop off dramatically after a career year.

4 - Define a strategy for DH.  Either trade Yoshida or let him do his job.  Cora has yet to treat him with the respect he built up in Japan.  Let him start the year as the clear-cut DH and see if he plays himself out of the position because we've all seen how much more clutch, he is than Abreu and how much better he hits lefties than Abreu. 

Abreu needs to beat out several AAA players for the 4th outfielder spot by learning how to hit lefties during the off seasons.  His .205 average over 3 seasons is unacceptable for starting because it forces the team to carry an extra player to start 40% of the games.  Like Devers, the team did fine without him.  He is completely expendable and his lack of baseball acumen and his yips in going back on fly balls increase his expendability.  We can't have him running into the CF when he thinks he gets to make the call on balls in the gap.  We need Rafaela to in RF to go back on balls hit to the wall without fear and making catches that have fallen these past three years when Abreu was in right.  Total team defense needs to be the focus of the front office and new manager.  It's the little things that will add up to winning a division.  Mookie and JBJ were the best two defenders and Mookie had the cannon arm; Rafaela and Duran are the best two defenders and Rafaela has the cannon arm so CF and RF should be a no brainer.

Thanks to the Red Sox players for a great 2025 season.  You finished 10 games higher than expected and provided some valuable glimpses into the future and for the first time since Dombrowski was fired the future looks very, very positive.  Breslow, thanks for that change in perspective.  It's much appreciated.

 

 

[Western Baseball Fan]

Great season, I don't think that as Red Sox fans as a whole we realize how good they have it, contending every year. There's a lot of upside towards next year. An offseason target could be a  Joe Ryan acquisition  if the Twins are willing to trade him, which considering their state, they probably will. They have plenty of arms in the rotation. With the right package put together, I think he could be acquirable, and very affordable to boost the 2026 rotation.

[jad]

Yeah, too bad the RS didn't have, say, a left-handed power hitter w/ 115 RBIs and 35 HR and a proven track record against the Yankees.  I mean, where do you even find guys like that?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 hours ago, jad said:

Yeah, too bad the RS didn't have, say, a left-handed power hitter w/ 115 RBIs and 35 HR and a proven track record against the Yankees.  I mean, where do you even find guys like that?

Baby Ward at the hospital.

[Bellhorn04]

12 hours ago, jad said:

Yeah, too bad the RS didn't have, say, a left-handed power hitter w/ 115 RBIs and 35 HR and a proven track record against the Yankees.  I mean, where do you even find guys like that?

Raffy played 163 games this year.  His teams were 77-86 in those games.  His final numbers look fine but something isn't right.

[Old Red]

7 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Raffy played 163 games this year.  His teams were 77-86 in those games.  His final numbers look fine but something isn't right.

I don’t put much stock in the teams W-L record with him, and without him. His BA was down, and his K’s were up, but his power numbers were still good. Could he have made a difference against the Yankees? We’ll never know.

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

I don’t put much stock in the teams W-L record with him, and without him. His BA was down, and his K’s were up, but his power numbers were still good. Could he have made a difference against the Yankees? We’ll never know.

His final numbers were fine but he seemed especially streaky this year.  I have no regrets about trading him, but we do need to get another big bat somehow.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I don't care where the club ranks in runs per game or any other categories, because offense is down all over the big leagues. But I've seen every Red Sox postseason team since 1967, and the '25s were by far the worst hitters. 

You don't always get what you pay for, but in the Wild Card series, these batters led the Sox in hits: Story 5, Yoshida 4, and Bregman 3. Fans know that's a trio Boston invested in heavily, but imagine the offense without them? Imagine how bad it will be again in 2026 if the front office doesn't invest in more legitimate MLB bats?

In the first two playoff games, utility players from Worcester -- Sogard and Eaton -- had two hits apiece... and then both were benched in the finale when the Sox were shutout.

Those five guys had 16 of Boston's 19 hits. The mighty Yankees scored all their runs in the elimination game on a pop-up and three grounders, all just out of the reach of robotic Red Sox defenders.

But we all know why they lost.

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I don't care where the club ranks in runs per game or any other categories, because offense is down all over the big leagues. But I've seen every Red Sox postseason team since 1967, and the '25s were by far the worst hitters. 

You don't always get what you pay for, but in the Wild Card series, these batters led the Sox in hits: Story 5, Yoshida 4, and Bregman 3. Fans know that's a trio Boston invested in heavily, but imagine the offense without them? Imagine how bad it will be again in 2026 if the front office doesn't invest in more legitimate MLB bats?

In the first two playoff games, utility players from Worcester -- Sogard and Eaton -- had two hits apiece... and then both were benched in the finale when the Sox were shutout.

Those five guys had 16 of Boston's 19 hits. The mighty Yankees scored all their runs in the elimination game on a pop-up and three grounders, all just out of the reach of robotic Red Sox defenders.

But we all know why they lost.

The Romy, and Ref Mans Allstars against LHP didn’t show up that everyone on here raves about either

[jad]

3 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Raffy played 163 games this year.  His teams were 77-86 in those games.  His final numbers look fine but something isn't right.

Agree totally.  But what likely wasnt right (remember his opening two dozen ABs?) was likely because the organization he came up with started jerking him around as early as spring training, then when  he was raking again, they got rid of him, bad-mouthing him the entire time and disseminating rumors (with no evidence) that he was a 'bad team-mate'.