1. It started with a late-game, two-out walk. That’s how the Red Sox’ began their improbable comeback in the 2004 ALCS to defeat the Yankees, becoming the first team in history to erase a 3-0 series deficit. And it was a late-game, two-out walk in this series that led to the winning run in Game 2 as the Yankees staved off elimination on back-to-back nights to become the first team in the Wild Card Series era to survive the round after losing the first game of the series.
The fact it was a Massachusetts native, Northeastern alumnus and former Red Sox fan who ended the Red Sox’ season made it that much sweeter. After being eliminated by the Red Sox in 2004, 2018 and 2021, the Yankees have once again flipped the rivalry back in their favor. After losing nine of their last 10 games postseason games to the Red Sox following the disappointing Game 1 loss, the Yankees have now won their last two postseason games against the Red Sox.
2. Cam Schlittler. He is the reason the Yankees’ season is alive and the reason they are going to be playing on Saturday (where they always should have been playing if they didn’t blow an eight-game division lead to the Blue Jays). What a performance for the rookie making his 15th major league start: 8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K. He dominated the Red Sox from the first batter of the game until the final out of the eighth inning. Schlittler destroyed the region he is from and the fanbase he was once part of with the most brilliant performance anyone could ask for. No one is talking about what Garrett Crochet did in Game 1 anymore. No one cares what Crochet did in Game 1 anymore. Schlittler is the story of this series. On a night in which Bucky Dent threw out the ceremonial first pitch and Aaron Boone was in the Yankees dugout, Schlittler became the latest Yankee to have his middle name changed to the F-word by Red Sox fans.
3. While the Game 1 loss sucked, it ended up being a very important loss. The way Game 1 played out and the moves that backfired on Boone led to him completely changing his managerial style in Games 2 and 3. The reason Boone left Carlos Rodon in so long in Game 2 was because of the backlash he received for pulling Max Fried when he did in Game 1, while Alex Cora let Crochet pitch into the eighth inning. The reason Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm got to start against a lefty in Game 3 is because of the heat Boone took for benching two of his best players for platoon reasons in Game 1. The reason Schlittler got to go back out for the eighth in Game 3 was because of what Boone watched Cora let Crochet do in Game 1. You can count on one hand the times Boone has managed to the game unfolding in front of him rather than from some predetermined script in his career and you’ll likely have a couple of fingers left over. Thursday was one of those times as Schlittler kept appearing on the mound at the start of each late inning. I would have sent him back out for the ninth because he was throwing strikes and hadn’t lost any velocity. His delivery is so effortless that it looks like a 57-mph lob from a position player in a lopsided game is going to leave his hand and instead it’s 102 four-seam fastballs, 100-mph two-season fastballs and 99-mph cutters. Schlittler lost nothing over eight innings.
4. The Red Sox’ infield defense is why they struggled at times this season and that infield defense reared its head at the most opportune time for the Yankees. The Red Sox’ fourth-inning defensive meltdown was beautiful. Watching it as a Yankees fan is what I imagine Dodgers fans experienced watching the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series last year.
The beloved center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela decided to not chase down Cody Bellinger’s leadoff bloop in the fourth in a straight line and his diving attempt to make up for his odd route was unsuccessful leading to a leadoff “double.” Giancarlo Stanton followed with a walk before Rice had an ugly strikeout. Amed Rosario’s sole purpose on the Yankees is to hit left-handed pitching and he failed in Game 1 going 0-for-3 against Crochet and made an out against Connelly Early in his first at-bat in Game 3. But Rosario came through this time, pulling an outside 1-0 changeup through the hole on the left side to score Bellinger and gives the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Chisholm hit a line-drive single to right to load the bases with one out and Anthony Volpe pushed a ground ball through the right side to make it 2-0. Austin Wells then provided the biggest at-bat of the game. With the bases still loaded and one out, Wells fell behind 0-2 only to grind out a nine-pitch at-bat and then hit a 100.3-mph ball to first. Wells’ ball could have been an inning-ending double play, but it instead turned into two runs off the glove of mid-August waiver claim Nathaniel Lowe. 4-0 Yankees.
5. The Yankees didn’t score again in the inning. They didn’t score again in the game. They didn’t need to because Schlittler kept throwing fastballs past the Red Sox’ bats. Schlittler threw 90 percent fastballs in the game and never once tried to fool the Red Sox with his secondary pitches. It was the ultimate “Here it is, hit it” game and the Red Sox couldn’t. They had one baserunner reach as far as second base the entire game.
The win saved the Yankees’ season and possibly saved Boone’s job. But if he were to manage with more feel for each live game and less “Luke Weaver is coming into the game in this predetermined spot no matter what” then no one would have a problem with his decision making. If Boone plays his ‘A’ lineup each game in the postseason and isn’t quick to go to his shaky bullpen the Yankees will be just fine. They will be more than fine.
6. As I wrote before the postseason, the Red Sox in a best-of-3 series was the worst possible draw for the Yankees. I would have felt comfortable and confident playing the Red Sox in a best-of-5 or best-of-7 and I would have felt the same playing any other AL team in any series length. The Yankees survived their worst possible matchup and now the path back to the World Series is right there for them. I expect them to reach the World Series.
7. Because I expect them to reach the World Series, that means I expect them to eliminate the Blue Jays in the ALDS, and I do. The Blue Jays aren’t better than the Yankees. It doesn’t matter that they finished with the same 94-68 record. It doesn’t matter that the Blue Jays won the season series 8-5. When the Yankees were swept in four games in Toronto from June 30-July 3, the combination of DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza was the Yankees’ starting second baseman; Chisholm was playing third base; Geoff Hartlieb, JT Brubaker, Clayton Beeter and Ian Hamilton came out of the bullpen. The Yankees are a much different team today than they were midseason when they blew their big division lead. And so are the Blue Jays. Bo Bichette and Chris Bassitt are hurt and Jose Berrios’ season fell apart. While the Yankees’ bullpen is a collection of highly-talented, yet highly-untrustworthy arms, it looks like the late-’90s Yankees bullpen compared to the Blue Jays’. The Yankees are a better, deeper team than the Blue Jays, and in one of the rare occurrences, the Yankees have the managerial advantage. John Schneider makes Boone seem like Joe Torre or Bruce Bochy.
8. The Blue Jays don’t have a single lefty in their rotation, which means the Yankees can deploy their ‘A’ lineup every game and not have to worry about matchup bullshit. Boone can write out Grisham, Judge, Bellinger, Rice, Stanton, Chisholm, Wells, Volpe, McMahon each game and not have to worry about it. The Yankees are set up to go Luis Gil in Game 1, Fried in Game 2, Rodon in Game 3, Schlittler in Game 4 and they can go back to Fried on normal rest for Game 5. The Yankees have the rotation advantage. They have the lineup advantage. They have the bullpen advantage. They have the managerial advantage. If they don’t run the bases like drunks like John Sterling famously said during the World Series last year and don’t beat themselves on defense, they will beat the Blue Jays and advance to the ALCS. I expect the Yankees to advance to the ALCS. It will be a massive failure if they don’t win this series.
9. It’s been 22 years since I had this feeling of the Yankees being responsible for the end of the Red Sox’ season and I forgot how good it feels. Seeing the lost looks on the faces of the Red Sox watching the Yankees celebrate on the Yankee Stadium field last night was the kind of warm feeling only this matchup can provide. It brought me back to watching Pedro Martinez with his hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head depressingly watching the Yankees’ Game 7 celebration in the 2003 ALCS. I missed this glorious feeling.
10. I’m going to spend Friday enjoying the win over the Red Sox, watching Schlittler’s 12 strikeouts on a loop and consuming as many Game 3 postgame reactions from Red Sox fans who watched their season end at the hands of one of their own as possible. I will start to worry about the Blue Jays and ALDS on Saturday. Today is a day for celebration. Tomorrow afternoon in Toronto, it’s back to work.
Last modified: Oct 5, 2025
