Yankees vs Red Sox score: AL wild-card game live updates, highlights as Nathan Eovaldi, Xander Bogaerts lead Sox to ALDS (2024)

The Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 6-2 in the American League wild-card game on Tuesday night, the first contest of the 2021 Major League Baseball postseason. They advance to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS. Our national writers and beat reporters provided analysis and insights throughout the matchup. Check out our coverage below.

(Photo of the Red Sox celebrating after the final out: Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

In the end, the Yankees’ efforts to turn their flawed and inconsistent team into a championship contender resulted in them delaying the dawn of their offseason by two measly days.

The players and the club invested in this season’s potential, even as the results in the first few months of the regular season showed them to be a team that would need to win games in spite of themselves. A 162-game season is long, and players taxed their bodies and the coaching staff exhausted their emotional reserves looking for solutions, and the front office gave up farm depth to acquire Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo, Clay Holmes and others in pursuit of keeping afloat what was plainly a leaky boat.

The Yankees’ season ended in a predictable fashion: With a collection of shortcomings and mistakes that sends them into the long winter burdened with the weight of failure and humiliation.

Who’s to blame for this latest disappointment? Failure falls on no one sect or individual — but where there are many fingers, there are many places to point to in apportioning the blame. The front office and ownership publicly blamed the players midseason; the players blame the front office. The coaching staff gets squeezed into marginalized middle management. All could have done better simply for themselves; all could have done better in a more constructive environment.

Read Lindsey Adler’s full piece.

(Photo of Gerrit Cole after giving up his second homer of the night: Charles Krupa / Associate Press)

Tabbed for the win-or-go-home wild-card start on Tuesday, Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi was convinced he’d be able to put the rough outing against the Yankees on Sept. 24 behind him. He kept his word.

The right-hander allowed two singles through 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight of the first 18 batters he’d faced.

But when manager Alex Cora emerged from the dugout with one out in the sixth inning after Eovaldi allowed an Anthony Rizzo solo homer wrapped around Pesky’s Pole followed by an infield single, the pitcher probably shouldn’t have been shocked.

Cora was turning to his bullpen despite just 71 pitches from his ace, but this wasn’t an unfamiliar move for the manager.

Eovaldi greeted Cora with a staredown as he approached the mound and a notable silence fell over the immensely raucous crowd.

“He explained to me a lot of our guys in the pen matched up well against the Yankees,” Eovaldi said after the 6-2 Red Sox victory sent them to the American League Division Series. “I’m never going to second-guess what he does. I’m just kind of caught up in the moment and I don’t want to come out of the game.”

Read Jen McCaffrey’s full story.

(Photo of Cora removing Eovaldi: Bob DeChiara / USA Today)

One way or another, when it’s all said and done, the tombstone of the 2021 Red Sox will read: It was always something.

It was something that challenged them, something that surprised them, and something that lifted them to unexpected heights. It may eventually be something that destroys them, but for now, it’s something that still defines them. It’s keeping their season very much alive into the month of October, and it will be their legacy if they keep going.

An emphatic 6-2 win against the Yankees in Tuesday’s wild-card game was the crowning achievement — so far — of a season that has defied expectations at every turn. As recently as one week ago it seemed the Red Sox might rip apart at the seams. They are instead holding firm and moving on to play the Rays in the division series.

“We just did something spectacular, to be honest with you,” Xander Bogaerts said.

Read Chad Jennings full piece.

(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

This is the new normal when the Red Sox play the Yankees in October. They are simply playing better, and smarter, in these recent showdowns.

Consider when Xander Bogaerts the shortstop played a key role in the sixth inning when Giancarlo Stanton was again thwarted. The Yankees were on the board now, thanks to a home run by Anthony Rizzo off Nathan Eovaldi — the only run allowed by the Boston starter in his 5 1/3 innings — and then Aaron Judge reached on an infield single. Reliever Ryan Brasier came on to face Stanton, who hit a rocket to center that was chased down by Kiké Hernández, who fired the ball to Bogaerts, who fired the ball home. Catcher Kevin Plawecki slapped down the tag on Judge, trying to score.

Some throw by Bogaerts, right?

“That was better than the homer (in the first), for me personally,” he said. “If that run scores it’s 3-2, Stanton is at second base, the whole momentum is on their side, their dugout is getting pumped up.

“When Judge was out at home, I saw Stanton (looking) pretty mad,” said Bogaerts. “He probably wanted a homer there, or an RBI, and he didn’t get that, and he probably felt like he didn’t do much because that run didn’t score. But that changed the game.”

Read Steve Buckley’s full column on the night at Fenway Park.

(Photo of Bogaerts: Rob Tringali / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

• Red Sox slugger Kyle Schwarber on the Fenway Park crowd: "Red Sox nation brought it tonight. We needed that."
• Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said the crucial relay to tag out Aaron Judge at home in the sixth and keep it 3-1 was better for him than the homer because of how close the game could have been. "That changed the game," he said. "That was the biggest moment."
• Yankees starter Gerrit Cole on his feeling of disappointment after his performance: "Sick to my stomach."
• Cole on his fastball not working: "I don’t really have a reason for it I guess. I don’t know if that’s necessarily the thing I would say was an issue but when it’s all said and done there wasn’t one pitch that was good enough."
• Yankees manager Aaron Boone, whose contract is up, says he hasn’t had any conversations with the Yankees about his contract status.
• Boone on Nathan Eovaldi's dominant performance: "He’s got great stuff. Up to 100 miles an hour with his fastball. He cuts it. I thought he had his curve going a little bit tonight with the splitter, so he was able to change speeds and he’s a great strike-thrower. He fills up the strike zone … He’s one of the best pitchers in the league and it’s because he has the tool set to do it but he’s got his command."
• Boone said his message to the team after the game was that he was grateful to have competed with them but also that they've got work to do. "The league’s closed the gap on us. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get better in every aspect. Because it’s not just the Red Sox and Astros in our league. Just look at our division."

— Lindsey Adler and Jen McCaffrey contributed to this post

The Red Sox beat the Yankees 6-2 behind the dominance of Nathan Eovaldi and the bats of Xander Bogaerts, Alex Verdugo and Kyle Schwarber. Eovaldi shoved, going 5 1/3 innings and striking out eight. Bogaerts (1-for-2, two walks) hit a two-run shot in the first inning off Gerrit Cole, and Schwarber (1-for-3, walk) added a solo shot off Cole in the third. Cole wilted in the biggest game of his Yankee career, getting pulled after just six outs. Verdugo went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, accounting for Boston's final three runs. Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton homered for the Yankees, but their offense looked lifeless, hitting fly ball after fly ball, drawing zero walks, and striking out 11 times. Their four through nine hitters combined to go 1-for-20 with eight strikeouts. The Red Sox are now 8-1 in their last nine postseason meetings with the Yankees.

Chad Jennings, Red Sox beat writer: The Yankees' biggest advantage in this game seemed to be Cole, but the Red Sox got the far better pitching performance. Eovaldi had fallen flat against the Yankees two weeks ago, but he felt confident it was a matter of mechanical issues that had been corrected.

That seemed to be the case, and he delivered five strong innings before manager Alex Cora went aggressively to the bullpen. It helped that the Red Sox executed a key defensive play in the sixth inning, throwing out Judge at the plate to keep the Yankees from a sustained rally.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: Cole needs his high fastball and wipeout slider to be his most effective, and he had neither working on Tuesday night. His issues looked similar to the issues he had in his previous outing against Toronto: He couldn't locate the fastball at the top of the zone early and was working to find command of his slider. He wound up leaving pitches over the heart of the plate, and he's hardly thrown his curveball in these two starts. He apparently did not have his tools early on in this one and the Yankees had no reason to leave him in to try to figure it out.

The Yankees' offense has been inconsistent all season, but their strategy on Tuesday night was a serious departure from their typical approach. They swung significantly more often in the wild-card game than they typically did during the regular season and failed to draw a single walk. They were one of the most disciplined offensive teams in MLB this season, and they allowed Eovaldi to cruise through two turns through the order before even threatening to score. Their approach was out of character and the results were very weak.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: I don't expect the Red Sox to beat the Rays in the ALDS (I didn't expect them to win tonight, if I'm being honest), but I do think Tampa Bay is more vulnerable in the postseason this year than last. The 2020 postseason was the first since 2013 in which the top seeds won the pennant in each league. That feels counterintuitive because they had to play an entire extra round, but both the Dodgers and Rays were teams built on depth — depth that was rewarded more than usual in October 2020 because of the lack of off-days within series. Back with a normal playoff schedule this autumn, I do wonder whether teams built more around stars (think the 2019 Nationals) have a better shot this year than last.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: With DJ LeMahieu injured and Gary Sánchez out of the lineup, the Yankees were in a lot of trouble when Gerrit Cole yielded those early runs. This was the kind of game that could get away from them if Cole didn’t perform and the top half of the lineup didn’t dominate. Giancarlo Stanton was a monster, but the Yankees were flat offensively otherwise and the Red Sox kept adding.

Jayson Stark, baseball writer: Red Sox victories in winner-take-all postseason games:

• Game 8, 1912 World Series - NY Giants
• Game 7, 1986 ALCS - Angels
• Game 5, 1999 ALDS - Indians
• Game 5, 2003 ALDS - A's
• Game 7, 2004 ALCS - Yankees
• Game 7, 2007 ALCS - Indians
• Wild-card game, 2021 - Yankees

(Photo of Nathan Eovaldi dealing to Aaron Judge / Stan Grossfeld / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

After Garrett Whitlock got Aaron Judge to ground out for the first out, he gave up a solo shot to Giancarlo Stanton to cut Boston's lead. But Joey Gallo swung at the second pitch he saw, flying out to right for the second out, and Gleyber Torres did the same to end the game.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: Despite reaching the postseason nine times in that span, the New York Yankees have gone 12 straight years without winning a World Series. That this season ended at the hands of the Red Sox only has to make that sting a little bit more.

Right-handed reliever Hansel Robles took the mound for Boston. Gary Sánchez lined out on the first pitch of the inning, Rougned Odor hit a long fly ball to left on the seventh pitch of his at-bat for the second out, and Anthony Rizzo struck out on three pitches for the final out. Robles needed just 11 pitches to get through the inning: eight four seamers, two changeups, one slider.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: The Yankees will have Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo due up in the top of the ninth. Last chance in this 6-1 dud of a game.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: As daunting as the front half of the Yankees lineup is, the back half has been equally awful tonight. New York's No. 6 through 9 hitters are a combined 1-for-12. What's more, as pointed out on the broadcast earlier, the Yankees haven't had the leadoff man aboard in any inning tonight. Nobody is setting up the core four hitters and putting any stress on Boston pitchers.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: Hansel Robles' eighth inning means Judge and Stanton can't tie it with a long ball — at least their first time up in the ninth inning. New York's gotten nothing out of the back half of its order, as Dan pointed out.

Jen McCaffrey, Red Sox beat writer: In 14 September appearances, Robles posted a 0.00 ERA, 15 strikeouts, four walks (he did allow two inherited runners to score). Either way, he's earned these high leverage spots.

Jayson Stark, baseball writer: Anthony Rizzo bounced to first base on the first pitch of the game. Since then, the Yankees have no ground-ball outs and no walks. They've had one strange offensive evening.

Jonathan Loáisiga and Chad Green combined to walk three batters in an inning that saw Alex Verdugo drive in two runs off Green to extend the Boston lead. Loáisiga walked Kyle Schwarber and Kiké Hernández, enough to get the hook and for Green to take the mound. Rafael Devers hit a long fly ball to center before Green walked Xander Boagerts on four pitches to load the bases — and Verdugo took advantage.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: Walks biting the Yankees again in the seventh ahead of Verdugo's two-run single. Four of Boston's six runs reached base via the free pass, and all of its RBI hits have been the first hit in the inning.

Dan Hayes, baseball reference: Verdugo hadn't been very good against the Yankees early in his career (he entered with a .651 OPS vs. .791 overall). But here he is in his first playoff game giving the Red Sox plenty of breathing room, which given their bullpen is a good thing.

Jen McCaffrey, Red Sox beat writer: For as many guys on the Red Sox roster who have significant postseason experience, Alex Verdugo, Arroyo, Bobby Dalbec, Tanner Houck and Josh Taylor (Austin Davis and Garrett Whitlock in the bullpen as well as bench guys Jonathan Arauz, Jarren Duran and Connor Wong) are all playing in their first postseason game.

Starter-turner-reliever Tanner Houck took the mound for the Red Sox in the seventh. Christian Vazquez came in at catcher. Gleyber Torres lined out for the first out, Brett Gardner struck out swinging for the second out, and Gio Urshela struck out swinging for the final out. Gardner has struck out in all three of his at-bats tonight. Yankees hitters have struck out 10 times and walked none.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: In limited work as a reliever this season, Tanner Houck issued six walks in 10 1/3 innings. But he wasn’t timid at all in the seventh inning. He attacked the zone, throwing strikes on 11 of 15 pitches (eight four seamers, seven sliders) and punching out two. Pretty good inning for a rookie making his postseason debut in that atmosphere.

Alex Verdugo doubled with one on and one out against Luis Severino to score Xander Bogaerts and increase the Red Sox' lead. Severino opened the inning by striking out Rafael Devers and walking Bogaerts, but was pulled after Verdugo's double. Jonathan Loáisiga walked Hunter Renfroe, the first batter he faced, on five pitches. Travis Shaw came in to pinch hit for Kevin Plawecki with two on and one out but struck out on a 97.7 mph four seamer. Dalbec struck out swinging on a 97.4 mph four seamer to end the inning.

Severino's line: 1 1/3 IP, 1 BB, 1 K, 28 pitches.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: There have only been three walks in this game (all by Yankees pitching), but two of those free passes have come around to score. That looms large in a 4-1 game.

After Nathan Eovaldi registered his eighth strikeout of the night, getting pinch hitter Rougned Odor on three pitches to open the frame, he gave up a first-pitch homer to Anthony Rizzo and a single to Aaron Judge. Boston manager Alex Cora pulled Eovaldi and went to reliever Ryan Braiser. Braiser then gave up a 400-foot single to Giancarlo Stanton, but the Red Sox defense made a perfect relay home — center fielder Kiké Hernández to shortstop Xander Boagerts to catcher Kevin Plawecki — to get Judge out at home. Joey Gallo popped out to end the inning.

Chad Jennings, Red Sox beat writer: How often do you see a huge out followed immediately by the pitching coach coming out for a mound visit? Stanton destroyed that pitch from Brasier, but the Red Sox turned it into an out because of some overly aggressive baserunning by the Yankees. Huge, huge, huge play, but the Red Sox have to be holding their breath a little bit at the moment.

Jen McCaffrey, Red Sox beat writer: For those questioning turning to Brasier as the first man out of the bullpen, since he rejoined the team Sept. 21 after being optioned to Worcester, he's posted eight straight scoreless outings entering tonight.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: The Yankees went from a situation where they would have had runners on first and third with one out to a runner on second with two outs. Absolutely brutal. They finally get their offense going in this one and wind up with one run on a solo home run. A disaster that let the Red Sox off the hook.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: Stanton hit six postseason home runs last year. In most other ballparks, he has two tonight. But at Fenway, he's got three total bases and no RBIs.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: As I was saying earlier, right, Boston's great defense will be a decisive factor in this game. Hernández backed up the play properly — which is so important for a CF at Fenway Park — and I wonder if Gallo's strikeout tendencies influenced Phil Nevin's decision to send Judge with one out. (Although I believe Gallo hasn't struck out much in the runner on third with fewer than two outs situation.)

Jennings: Super aggressive hook by Cora. A home run and infield single, and that’s all for Eovaldi. He was fully dominant for five innings, but Cora won’t stick with him a third time through the order. One way or another, this will be a defining decision of this ballgame.

Britton: That's astonishingly quick to me; the Judge single wasn't well-struck. Brasier has looked a fair amount like his 2018 self the last few weeks, but Boston needs 11 outs from a pen that hasn't inspired a lot of confidence of late.

McCaffrey: Cora pulled Tanner Houck in the midst of a perfect game on Saturday after five innings. This isn't the same situation, obviously, but Cora hasn't shied away from making uncomfortable calls when he feels it's the right move. It worked Saturday. We'll see if it works tonight.

Adler: Anthony Rizzo’s extreme pull tendencies are a great fit for this ballpark.

Luis Severino replaced Clay Holmes on the mound for the Yankees. Christian Arroyo grounded out for the first out. Kyle Schwarber worked Severino to a full count but then grounded out for the second out. Kiké Hernández hit a fly ball to right to end the inning. Severino threw 13 pitches: eight four seams, three changeups, two sliders.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: Severino missed like two entire years of MLB action and has come back just straight shoving. A really excellent outcome for him (and the Yankees).

Tim Britton, baseball writer: Holmes and Severino have settled this game down for the Yankees. Yes, the way Eovaldi is dealing makes a 3-0 lead feel big, but he's not Jake Arrieta or Madison Bumgarner in a wild-card Game, liable to go the full nine. New York's still within reasonable reach with a dozen outs to go.

These next two half-innings are huge. The Yankees need the middle of their bullpen to get through the top part of the Boston order here in the bottom of the fifth, and then Eovaldi gets the top part of the New York order in the sixth for a third time. The Red Sox want to preserve as much cushion as possible for when they turn to the bullpen.

Nathan Eovaldi struck out Brett Gardner swinging to open the frame. He went three straight fastballs to end the six-pitch at-bat: Curve, cutter, splitter, four seam, four seam, four seam. Gio Urshela then swung at the first pitch of his at-bat and lined out to left. Eovaldi then got Kyle Higashioka swinging to end the inning. Eovaldi's line through five: 64 pitches (47 strikes), seven strikeouts, no walks, 11 swings-and-misses.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: When he dominated the 2018 postseason, notching a 1.61 ERA over 22 1/3 innings (six appearances), Eovaldi was coming off a season in which he posted a 3.81 ERA between Tampa and Boston. This season, Eovaldi, who allowed seven earned runs in 2 2/3 against the Yankees on Sept. 24, carried a 3.75 ERA. The dude just seems to know how to handle these moments. He’s been so composed, his misses have been good misses and as Tim alluded to earlier, he’s making delivery adjustments to confuse hitters.

Chad Jennings, Red Sox beat writer: Jen McCaffrey and I were just talking about this wondering how long Alex Cora will let Eovaldi go. Cora’s had a quick hook recently, but he hasn’t seen a pitching performance like this in a while. If he gets through this inning, Eovaldi should start his third turn through the order in the sixth. At that point, Cora might have an itchy trigger finger. Eovaldi might have to keep up this pace to keep his manager from being tempted.

Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging on four pitches to open the frame. Nathan Eovaldi went four seam (97), four seam (96.3), curve (80.3), four seam (99.5). Joey Gallo then hit a long fly ball to center for the second out. Gleyber Torres followed that up with a fly ball to center of his own for the final out of the frame. Eovaldi has retired seven straight.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: Eovaldi has only needed 53 pitches to get through 14 Yankees batters. The Red Sox bullpen has been gassed and shaky in recent weeks, and the Yankees' uncharacteristically hurried approach at the plate is helping Eovaldi's chances of going deep in this game.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: Eovaldi pitching well was basically a pre-requisite for the Red Sox to win tonight, and he's giving them everything they could want and more. He's looked in complete control through four efficient innings, retiring the last seven Yankees. He's basically given up a pair of hard-hit balls from Stanton and Judge, and that's about it.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: A year ago, all of these playoff teams were competing in empty stadiums for the wild card and first rounds. This atmosphere, Fenway Park for the Yankees and Red Sox, makes for such an amazing backdrop by comparison. It was great to have the playoffs there last year, but having crowds like this one can make all the difference.

Gerrit Cole was pulled with no outs in the third after giving up his second homer of the night, a solo shot by Kyle Schwarber, to open the inning before allowing a single by Kiké Hernández and walking Rafael Devers. Clay Holmes came on and struck out Xander Bogaerts before Alex Verdugo grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Schwarber's blast off Cole came on a 97.4 mph four-seam fastball up in the zone and left Schwarber's bat at 110.3 mph with a 31 degree launch angle and went 435 feet.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: The Yankees have the bullpen coverage to survive this one. But the combination of their ace really not having it tonight and a bunch of quick, early outs from their offense is obviously not how they wanted this one to go at this point.

Chad Jennings, Red Sox beat writer: The Yankees bullpen should be a relative strength in this game, but I can’t imagine they want to be into their pen before the end of the third inning. But the Yankees are on their heels, and Aaron Boone isn’t going to let Cole face Xander Bogaerts again. Amazing considering where this Red Sox offense was the previous week and a half.

Tim Britton, baseball writer: Cole was the Yankees' biggest advantage coming into the night. Not only was that edge neutralized, but it was totally inverted. New York doesn't have a bullpen as exasperating as Boston's, but 21 outs is a lot to ask from any relief corps.

Jayson Stark, baseball writer: Only one Yankees starter has ever had a shorter postseason start against the Red Sox than Cole's six-out start tonight. That was also in a winner-take-all game. Kevin Brown in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS: 4 outs, 5 runs.

Jennings: When the Red Sox traded for Schwarber at the deadline, there was no obvious place to play him — they had a left fielder and designated hitter, and Schwarber had never played first base — but the Red Sox liked his bat so much, they figured they would find ways to keep him in the lineup. Tonight, with J.D. Martinez hurt, he’s in at DH and just hit the second Red Sox homer of the night. He’s been huge even in a slightly awkward role.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: While most of his damage occurred during the Cubs’ 2015 playoff run, Schwarber is a money player in the postseason. That was his seventh postseason home run in 81 plate appearances. Still remember the confidence the Cubs felt down 3-2 in the series when they knew Schwarber was returning for the final two games of the 2016 World Series.

Britton: That Schwarber home run felt like the one he smashed off Matt Harvey in the 2015 NLCS. Just demolished.

Andrew Velazquez swung at Nathan Eovaldi's first pitch of the third, flying out to left field. Anthony Rizzo and Eovaldi battled in a nine-pitch at bat that ended in Rizzo striking out swinging. Pitch sequence against Rizzo: Four seam, four seam, splitter, cutter, curve, splitter, four seam, splitter, four seam. Aaron Judge swung at the first pitch of his second at-bat, flying out to center to end the inning.

Eovaldi's pitch usage through three:

• Four seam: 20
• Slider: 7
• Curve: 6
• Splitter: 6
• Cutter: 1

Tim Britton, baseball writer: It's not just the way Eovaldi sped up his delivery on that strikeout pitch to Rizzo, as Alex Rodriguez mentioned on the ESPN broadcast. Eovaldi had slowed his delivery the pitch before, pausing at the top. That juxtaposition made it tougher on Rizzo.

Dan Hayes, baseball writer: Even with that extended at-bat by Rizzo, Eovaldi has been very efficient through his first three innings pitches, throwing a total of 39 pitches so far.

Lindsey Adler, Yankees beat writer: Yankees swung less than any other MLB team during the regular season (44.4 percent). Tonight, they're clearly trying to be aggressive early against Eovaldi and have already swung at 23 of his 39 pitches through three innings.