Category: Baseball

For as often as it is applied with certainty, “Most Valuable Player” can feel uncomfortably inexact. Pitchers are valuable in different ways than hitters. Hitters are more valuable in good times than when they are slumping. Sheer productivity is valuable, but players can help win games in ways statistics obscure. Maybe “Most Valuable” is best explained as “you know it when you see it.”

And in the Yankees’ Game 1 win against the Red Sox on Tuesday night -- as on so many nights during the regular season -- Ben Rice was the player heaving them over a finish line that was not immediately clear they would cross without him. He went 4-for-5 with two home runs, one of which gave the Yankees a second run when the game was close early, the second of which was a grand slam that allowed them to preserve key arms late. He drove in six of the Yankees’ nine runs while becoming the first Yankee to homer twice in a playoff game in half a decade’s worth of Octobers. He left no doubt.

“Count on one hand,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “One of the best hitters in the league.”

Rice’s regular season will earn him plenty of down-ballot MVP votes, though he almost certainly will not beat out Yordan Alvarez’s near-Triple Crown season to win it. But if the award were given for sheer offensive productivity, his numbers alone would solidify him as a top-five finish. 

Rice posted the fourth-best OPS (.897), fifth-highest wRC+ (149), and tied for the fourth-most home runs (41) in the majors. Only eight players had a higher OPS with runners in scoring position than Rice (.975), who became the focal point of the Yankees’ lineup – and was therefore under more pressure to produce while being pitched more carefully – when Judge was on the injured list for three months this summer.

Built into that three-month period was one month (August, mostly) during which Rice struggled to prop up the lineup in Judge’s absence, hurt further by an injury to Cody Bellinger. He endured a .184 average and .641 OPS in August, and the Yankees’ offense sputtered without him.

“It was a great offensive season, and obviously, we needed it,” Boone said, before recalling that second-half swoon.

“That’s the thing you love to see. For as great a year as he had, he had a stretch there for a month where it was really a grind and a struggle, but he kind of got himself out of it.”

As Rice recovered, the Yankees’ offense followed, and it exploded after Judge returned from his rib injury. And when a strained calf pulled Judge out of action again, Rice slid back into the role of offensive anchor.

The 27-year-old is, and has been, the hitter around whom the Yankees built entire lineup plans this year. Even Judge’s injury made his production so crucial, and even with their catchers enduring historic offensive struggles, the Yankees did not put Rice back in his old position, too desperate for his offense to risk injury or overload from catching duties.

And as Judge, a three-time MVP, tries to work his way back from this injury in time for a potential Division Series, Rice represents the lineup lynchpin once again. Judge has said he will have to be healthy enough to play right field when he returns -- not just serve as the designated hitter -- because the Yankees lineup functions better with Rice in that spot. Meanwhile, Boone said before Game 1 that Major League Baseball’s active home run leader, Giancarlo Stanton, is effectively on the roster just to take a pinch-hit at-bat each night because getting him more chances would require maneuvering with Rice.

In fact, Rice is one of the Yankees’ few immovable objects. Luis Garcia Jr., whose .831 regular season OPS was 25th among qualified hitters, did not start Tuesday night because the platoon matchup favored Paul Goldschmidt at first base. Rice has been immune to Boone’s otherwise all-inclusive platoon considerations for quite some time.

“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen,” rookie George Lombard Jr. said. “And he shows why all the time.”

Still, Cam Schlittler was the one who heard MVP chants Tuesday night, and for good reason. He was untouchable, almost literally, for a Red Sox lineup that has seen him many times and planned for this. And when he was asked about those chants, he deferred to another Yankee more deserving of the title.

“We already got an MVP in this locker room. He’s won three of them,” Schlittler said of Judge. “If he were in there this whole season, he’d probably have it.”

But Judge was not in there this whole season -- wasn’t even in there for half of it -- and despite his best efforts to heal a strained calf in record time, he was not in the Yankees lineup Tuesday, either. Without him, against the kind of left-handed starter seemingly poised to punish the Yankees for the absence of their right-handed superstar, Rice was the unstoppable weapon.

His first-inning double signaled Payton Tolle was vulnerable. His home run against Erik Miller in the fifth gave the Yankees a two-run lead while signaling to the Red Sox that none of their lefties were safe. His bases-loaded single in the seventh gave the Yankees breathing room as Schlittler tired. And it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that his grand slam in the bottom of the eighth might decide the series. Because of that swing, Boone felt safe using John Schreiber in the ninth instead of David Bednar. Because of the size of the lead late, he did not need Brent Headrick, either.

Headrick and Bednar have been the Yankees’ best relievers all season. They will be fully rested in relief of Max Fried in Game 2. With a series win in reach, there might be nothing more valuable than that.

All September, we watched the Red Sox half-heart their way through the month. Guys got days off, pitchers were pushed back, bullpen arms were saved, and the general intensity of all the games flat out sucked, especially as a late season product where historically there’d be a race to get into or improve playoff positioning.

All of this uninspiring play was only potentially made palatable by one overarching theme: After losing their previous series in New York at the end of August — And with it the tiebreaker over the Yankees — the Red Sox essentially made a deal with the baseball devil in which they (apparently) made their return trip this week their sole priority. In short, they put the results of games in the first four weeks of September on the backburner in favor of getting healthier and being ready to go for September 29th.

Well, September 29th came, and they were woefully unprepared for the very matchup they were supposedly studying up on for the last month. They looked flat, overwhelmed, and like a team who didn’t belong on the stage.

Just as importantly, they looked like the same team they’ve been all month, where they not only rank dead last in runs scored with just 71, but are 18 runs behind the next closest squad.

They also mimicked multiple September games in which they ran out the white flag bullpen squad after falling behind early. When Payton Tolle walked off the mound in the fifth inning, it was still just a 1-0 game, but the next five pitchers through the bullpen door were Erik Miller, Greg Weissert, Alec Gamboa, Wyatt Olds, and Brayan Bello. Chad Tracy did this in a playoff game, in New York, with winter potentially breathing down their neck in 24 hours. That is some September 15th garbage!

Regardless of whether you felt the July and August Sox were legit or all smoke and mirrors, there’s no denying they had a certain fight to them, and it’s a quality that kept them in every single game.

And then all at once, after losing that Yankee serious to close August, they intentionally and strategically stopped pushing for wins every day with the same intensity. On one hand, I can’t even entirely blame them for doing that because it’s largely the box this playoff format puts you in … But wow, if you’re going to do that, you absolutely need to have a way to guarantee you can hit the ground running and be ready to go when Game 1 does come around, because tonight, this Red Sox team proved entirely incapable of flipping the summer switch back on.

Apparently, in their final tune up, they spent all weekend practicing against the Trajekt machine on the Schlittler setting, and despite seeing the difference between his velocity and off-speed pitches simulated, it didn’t make a lick of difference and they still got caught with their pants down for the second year in a row.

A year ago the Red Sox were caught with no Trajekt machine reps vs. Schlittler leading into Game 3. Was told they ‘wore out’ the Rays’ Trajekt for Schlittler over the weekend.

— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) September 29, 2026

Unfortunately, there’s no perfect way to enter the playoffs, and this wretched, bloated postseason format only further complicates the conundrum. For this reason, I’m actually partially sympathetic to the idea there’s just a reality here where the line between getting the plane off the ground and never even getting started in October is razor thin and tough to gauge.

However, at the same time, solving this riddle is exactly what the guys who run this team get paid to figure out. That’s literally the gig. And borrowing a dramatic turnaround, it appears they’ve failed miserably.

Things aren’t quite over yet, but unless Wednesday and Thursday feature a flip of the script that’s as jarring, abrupt and surprising as that performance was hideous on Tuesday, it’s going to be a brutal and bitter winter in Boston. If there’s any bullets left in the gun, they need to find it and start firing now.

NEW YORK – Aaron Judge was nowhere to be found on the field at Yankee Stadium. Yet “M-V-P!” chants still resonated through the raucous ballpark.

Judge did not join his teammates on the baseline for pregame introductions. But a total team effort pulled the Yankees through in a virtual must-win game.

There’s still no certainty if or when Judge will take the field this postseason. But for one night, perhaps the most important night of the playoffs – Game 1 of the best-of-three American League wild card series – the Yankees proved they could survive without their three-time Most Valuable Player.

Perhaps that’s because Cam Schlittler has become their most important player.

Schlittler tormented the Boston Red Sox for the second consecutive year in the wild card round, this time getting a massive assist from fellow New England product Ben Rice, the Walpole ace and the Cohasset crusher laying waste to the team they couldn’t avoid growing up.

This time, Schlittler took a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning and Rice drove in six runs as the Yankees moved a massive step toward advancing to the AL Division Series with a 9-0 trouncing of the Red Sox on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Game 2 is Wednesday night, Boston’s Sonny Gray pitching to save the Red Sox’s season against Yankees lefty Max Fried. Tuesday’s final score might have you believe Game 1 was a laugher.

It was anything but, Schlitter nursing a 1-0 lead into the fifth and a 2-0 lead into the seventh, with Rice quietly laying waste to the Red Sox bullpen until his final, big blast.

That came in the bottom of the eighth inning, a garbage time grand slam off Brayan Bello to make it 9-0 and bring winter nearer New England.

It was Rice’s fourth hit and he tied a Yankees franchise record with his six RBIs, the fifth to do it and the first since Robinson Cano in 2011. Rice, the Dartmouth grad and erudite soul of the Yankee clubhouse, does not necessarily fit the mold of past Yankee greats.

In another fashion, he and Schlittler are both fitting right in.

“If you want to be a legend,” Schlittler said Tuesday, “you’ve got to do it in the postseason.”

Doesn’t he know it. Schlittler’s die was cast in the decisive Game 3 of the 2025 wild-card round, when he struck out 12 Red Sox over eight innings and talked mad smack after, chiding Red Sox fans for goading him on social media.

A year later, Schlittler’s tone mellowed only a bit, noting his good friends from up north came down for the game and while they are Red Sox fans, knew not to poke the bear.

His pitching dominance was nearly identical, though.

Cam Schlittler stats are unreal

Mixing in a diving curveball that got five swings and misses his first time through the order, Schlittler retired 13 in a row, seven by strikeout, after Adley Rutschman’s 10-pitch at-bat ended in a first-inning single.

The streak ended with a seven-pitch walk to Jarren Duran in the fifth. But manager Aaron Boone let Schlittler go, all the way to 117 pitches until there was one out in the seventh.

In two wild card starts against the Red Sox, here’s what Schlittler’s done: 14 1/3 innings, 22 strikeouts, one walk, seven hits – and zero runs given up.

Yet one mistake, and all could have gone for naught. It was just 1-0 in the fifth inning when Red Sox rookie manager Chad Tracy opted to pull starter Payton Tolle after 83 pitches. It was simply swapping lefty for lefty, reliever Erik Miller summoned to get Rice.

The move backfired when Rice drilled a middle-middle sinker 423 feet to straightaway center field and into Monument Park. The way Schlittler was pitching, going from 1-0 to 2-0 felt massive.

“One hundred percent,” says Schlittler. “I mean, their guy was pitching really well. And obviously, another local guy, so it’s a great feeling to watch him go out and dominate.”

Ah, yes. Schlittler, a seventh-round pick in 2022, and Rice (12^th round, 2021) wear their draft positions like a badge of honor. They pay constant respect to Matt Hyde, the Yankees scout that discovered them both.

 And Rice, who grew up a Yankee fan up there because he loved Derek Jeter, says beating the Red Sox “definitely adds a cool element to it.” He’s a bit Jeterian himself, known as the Yankees’ rock for his ability to process information, dispense advice and perform consistently.

Rice’s approach paid off in a 41-home run season at 27.

“When it starts to get hard, that’s all the more reason to be consistent. You’ve got lean on your everyday routine, your approach. All that is really for the hard times. You need that.

“That’s the backbone of your season.”

Aaron Judge injury won't derail Yankees

Most years, Judge is that backbone. But his four-month absence due to a fractured rib was followed by a calf strain in the final week of the season, rendering him unavailable for this round.

Judge did not agree with the assessment, but the Yankees are soldiering on without him and in Game 1 got contributions from all corners of the roster.

Deposed shortstop Anthony Volpe, getting a key hit and making every play at second base.

Catcher Austin Wells, driving in the first run of the game.

Rookie George Lombard – second-youngest player, to Mickey Mantle, to play in a Yankee playoff game – getting three hits in his playoff debut.

All homegrown products and all making up for the big fella that’s out.

“I think we view ourselves as a complete team,” says center fielder Spencer Jones, another Yankee product. “We have a bunch of guys up and down the lineup and we talk about, you’re going to get a opportunity to play every single night.

“Everybody was in it on every pitch. And that’s the way we operate.”

Yet the loudest cheers were reserved for Schlittler, the presumed AL Cy Young Award winner thanks to his 239 strikeouts and 1.95 ERA in 33 starts. Yankee fans are getting a little greedy, as is their wont, and the MVP chants started up a while back in the Bronx.

They grew louder with each subsequent zero Schlittler hung on the scoreboard, reaching a crescendo when they saluted him with a standing ovation as he left the game in the seventh.

“I mean, we already got an MVP in this locker room. He's won three of them,” says Schlittler of Judge. “So, I mean, if he were in there this whole season, he'd probably have it. I mean, it's a good feeling.

“I wouldn't say I am an MVP. But it's good to kind of embrace that from the fans.”

And in Game 1, Schlittler enhanced the chances this October ride may be a long one – with or without Judge.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Yankees utterly dominated Red Sox without MVP Aaron Judge

Cam Schlittler did something Tuesday night in the Bronx that put him in spectacular pitching company. 

Already a talent so sublime he qualifies as a rivalry separator in the blood feud that is Yankees-Red Sox, Schlittler’s going for bigger than just Sox-killer status: He’s blooming into postseason royalty, too.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 9-0, at Yankee Stadium and Schlittler delivered 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out 10. Going back to last October when he first shredded Boston, he now has two scoreless playoff starts with at least 10 strikeouts in his career, something only five pitchers have accomplished.

And those pitchers are something else – Justin Verlander did it three times and Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown and Cliff Lee did it twice each. Aces all.

"It's very well known that if you want to be a legend, which is obviously the goal, you've got to do it in the postseason,” said Schlittler. “Go out there and have dominant starts and put the team in the position to win.”

The Yankees can advance Wednesday with a victory in Game 2 of the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series. Schlittler knows, as he put it, “the job isn’t finished yet.” But he also said, “We’re heading in the right direction.”

Schlittler will win the AL Cy Young Award later this year following a remarkable regular season. He’s also got a 0.47 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox, including his eight scoreless innings last October. Tuesday night, he demonstrated numerous times how good he is, to the point where his teammates were marveling afterward.

Anthony Volpe, who started at second base after only playing shortstop behind Schlittler, was agog. "From second base, watching some of these righties, I never had that angle,” Volpe said.

“Some of the swings were so far away from where he was throwing the ball."

Schlittler, who had a 1.95 ERA during the regular season, featured his curveball nearly three times more than usual. The pitch was landing for called strikes or swing-and-misses – he finished four of his strikeouts with it – and it was the perfect antidote for the times Red Sox hitters tried to guess early at his high-90s heat.

Aaron Boone noted that Schlittler and catcher Austin Wells excelled at picking spots to use the curve.

“I thought they did a really nice job of using that off of some guys selling out to the four-seam,” Boone said. “He was filling up the strike zone with it, too, so he was able to get strikes with it if he needed to and, obviously, chase. And then the fastball was great.”

“The amount of miss and weak contact I'm getting with that (the curve), I’m feeling like I'm in a really good spot with it,” Schlittler said.

“Cam was obviously awfully good,” added Boston manager Chad Tracy. “The fastball shapes are well-documented. He’s throwing hard. He also had a good curveball. You know it’s there, but he used it a little bit more often. He landed it, if he wanted to, for strikes. He was able to get it beneath (hitters’ bats) for swing and miss.

“We weren’t able to do much with him.”

When Schlittler finished off the sixth inning with a strikeout of Adley Rutschman on a cutter, he matched his career high with 107 pitches. Boone sent him out to start the seventh and he retired Willson Contreras, Boston’s most dangerous hitter. But then he gave up a hit to Wilyer Abreu and came out of the game.

“No debate to send him out there,” Boone said. 

After Contreras? “I probably should have taken him (out) at that point, but I got a little greedy.” 

The Yanks were trying to squeeze every last out from Schlittler, especially since they took 10 pitchers on the Wild Card roster so they could maximize their hitting options against Boston.

They got 19 outs on 117 pitches from Schlittler. It was plenty, especially considering the way their bats came alive late – Schlittler’s fellow New Englander, Ben Rice, homered twice, including an eighth-inning grand slam.

The pair enjoys beating their hometown team – both are from the Boston area. “It adds like a cool little layer to it,” Rice said of their shared geographical background and success against the Red Sox. “For Cam, too.”

“I mean, we love it,” Schlittler said.

They’ve got to beat the Sox one more time this week to advance. There’s plenty more work Schlittler wants to do.

He wants to be a legend, after all. Pitching like this, he’s well on his way.

San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King was on the way to etching his name into MLB record books, flirting with a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs during Game 1 of the National League wild card series at Petco Park.

The dream ended on Nico Hoerner's infield single with one out in the seventh inning, with third baseman Manny Machado unable to pick up the ball cleanly.

There have been three no-hitters in MLB postseason history, most recently the Houston Astros' combined no-hitter in the 2022 World Series. Don Larsen (1956 perfect game) and Roy Halladay (2010) are the only other pitchers to have accomplished the feat.

King finished with eight strikeouts in 97 pitches in seven innings, getting the win in the Padres' 8-0 victory.

Here are all of the no-hitters pitched in MLB postseason history:

First ever no-hitter was a perfect game

The first ever no-hitter in MLB postseason history was in 1956 when New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen threw a perfect game in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Yankees would go on to defeat the Dodgers and capture the 1956 World Series pennant in seven games, winning the series 4-3 after going down 2-0 after two games.

Larsen was named World Series MVP.

A 54-year drought is broken

It would take another 54 years for the second-ever no-hitter to happen. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay did it in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

He led the Phillies to a 4-0 win at Citizens Bank Park. With Halladay leading the way, Philadelphia would eventually go on to sweep the NLDS against the Reds.

Team-effort in first combined no-hitter

They say teamwork makes the dream work and that phrase rang true for the Houston Astros during Game 4 of the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

A combination of Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly took over against the Phillies. Javier pitched six innings and Abreu, Montero and Pressly each took an inning for themselves.

They defeated the Phillies, 5-0, in Game 4 as they would eventualy go on to capture the World Series pennant. It took the Astros six games to knock off the Phillies. Jeremy Peña became the first rookie to win the World Series MVP.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A look back at every no-hitter in MLB postseason history

SAN DIEGO — The crowd stood on its feet Tuesday night, watched the bullpen gate open in center field, and there he was, No. 44, strolling onto the field.

Joe Musgrove first started walking, and then as the scoreboard showed his face, began jogging to the mound. He stopped, tugged at his belt, pounded his right fist into his glove, and then skipped to the mound as his San Diego Padres teammates stood on the top step of the dugout cheering.

Everyone else in the sellout crowd of 47,084 at Petco Park was giving their homegrown hero a standing ovation, too.

The playoff game was long decided by the time Musgrove entered in the ninth inning, with the Padres routing the Chicago Cubs, 8-0, in their biggest postseason shutout in franchise history in Game 1 of their wild card series against the Chicago Cubs.

Now, even after Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado homered in the first inning, even with ace Michael King flirting with a no-hitter into the seventh inning, with the Padres out-hitting the Cubs, 13-3, this was the moment this fans had long awaited.

It had been two long years, Oct. 2, 2024, to be exact, when they last saw Musgrove step onto the mound.

Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery after he walked off the mound in that 2024 postseason game against Atlanta, missed the entire 2025 season, and believed he’d be ready to start this season. Then, came the heartbreak. Setback after setback. He believed at times he could be back, and other times wondering if he’d ever even pitch again.

“I've been through a lot of a lot of headaches and a lot of negative thoughts over the last year and a half," Musgrove told a handful of reporters Tuesday night at his locker “You know, a lot of it's self-inflicted. I get into these ruts of just feeling like I'm letting people down, and I'm not holding up my end of the deal.

“But you know, the work and the effort I'm putting in is really all I can control."

Musgrove, who was told two days ago that he’d be on the playoff roster, began warming up in the eighth inning. His legs felt like jelly. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He hadn’t felt nerves like this since, well, maybe the night of Apri 9, 2021, when he threw the first no-hitter in Padres history.

“It was the most nervous I’ve been," Musgrove said, “pitching with an eight-run lead."

Now, coming in just to record the final three outs in mop-up relief, he felt as if he were on the mound trying to save a one-run game in Game 7 of the World Series, with the crowd on its feet screaming.

“I had been visualizing this and going through it in my head," Musgrove said. “So I expected it to get a little loud and people to be excited. But I didn’t expect quite that crazy of a mound."

When Musgrove stepped on the mound, he became only the second player in MLB history to appear in a postseason game directly after missing two entire regular seasons. The only other man to pull off the feat was catcher Clyde McCullough in the 1945 World Series, after missing the previous two seasons serving in World War II.

“I’ve been here before, you know, pitching in the playoffs and pitching a big game," Musgrove said. “So it was just the mental preparation, finding ways to calm down, kind of mentally putting myself in those situations, feeling how the emotions are going to be, and knowing where my mind tends to go in those moments."

Musgrove, on his first pitch in 727 days, fired a 95.8-mph fastball to Michael Busch. Strike 1. The crowd screamed, and his teammates yelled. He struck out Busch on three pitches. Then, the rust began to show, along with the nerves. He gave up a single to Seiya Suzuki. Then he walked Ian Happ. Nico Hoerner loaded the bases with a sharp single to center field.

Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla went to the mound to settle down Musgrove as Padres manager Craig Stammen picked up the bullpen phone to tell All-Star closer Mason Miller to warm up.

Musgrove exhaled, induced a pop-up from Pedro Ramirez to second baseman Jake Cronenworth for the second out, and then on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, struck out Michael Conforto, who helplessly watched an 82.5-mph curveball cross the plate.

The crowd erupted. So did his teammates.

They rushed to the mound and greeted him, one by one, with emotional bear hugs and back slaps. Every single player on the team congratulated him, some with tears in their eyes.

“That was dope," Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill told USA TODAY Sports. “We did a lot of good things out there, but nothing compared to watching Joe do that. That was the best part of the game, in my opinion."

This is a guy who was born and raised in San Diego, grew up a diehard Padres fan, who signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension to stay with the Padres, and was perhaps as big part of the city’s fabric as any athlete since Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and Junior Seau of the San Diego Chargers.

“It’s been really hard for me to sit back and, you know, with the contract and all," Musgrove said, “and not pitch for two years. I’ve done everything in my power to get back on the mound, and it just hasn’t gone my way. ...

“So, I’m sure coming back in any scenario would feel good, but to come back in a playoff situation with the crowd the way they were tonight at home, yeah, that’s perfect."

Really, it was a Hollywood moment that had everyone in the Padres clubhouse elated.

“YWe couldn't script it any better what happened tonight," said Tatis, who hit the first leadoff home run in Padres franchise history. “Today was a beautiful baseball night over here for every San Diegan."

And, yes, particularly Musgrove, who had his parents, family, friends, his pitching coach since he was 15, and personal trainer all in attendance.

“It was emotional for a lot of people and especially Joe," Stammen said. “The fan base has always loved Joe because he's one of their own, and rightly so, they should. …

“For Joe to finish that game is pretty awesome."

Cronenworth echoed the sentiments of everyone in the celebratory Padres clubhouse, simply saying, “What a night. I couldn’t be happier for him. Joe deserved this."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside Padres hometown hero's emotional return after two years of injury

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NEW YORK — One decision, in either direction, right or wrong, could mean the game or the series for postseason teams. For the Boston Red Sox, it took all of three pitches to find out that a curious decision by manager Chad Tracy has them on the brink of elimination.

After the New York Yankees' 9-0 win in Game 1 of their AL wild-card series, Tracy was asked about his decision to pull starter Payton Tolle after 83 pitches. Tolle didn’t show signs of fatigue when he was replaced by left-hander Erik Miller and went to the visitors’ dugout, giving up five hits, one earned run, one walk, and four strikeouts.

Game 1 was Tracy’s first postseason game as a manager, and before the matchup between the heated AL East rivals, he said he was most excited for the players because of the adversity they had faced this season, earning a playoff spot despite being 14 games under .500 in late June. He took over on an interim basis in April after Alex Cora was fired and led the team to a 77-58 record the rest of the way.

“I thought he threw the ball well. They did an effective job of grinding the count up as well. He had traffic. They put traffic on him. He was able to navigate his way through that. I think he competed extremely well for the time that he was out there and gave us what he could,” Tracy said of Tolle.

"I think the number being up there in the mid-80s, still trying to get through five, probably higher than what you normally see with Payton, and to be expected in an environment like this. But I thought he competed his butt off."

Miller, a 28-year-old left-hander, who was acquired from the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 3, had been outstanding in the regular season, striking out 74 batters in 51.1 innings in his 57 appearances, giving Boston much-needed middle relief down the stretch.

But Miller’s first batter that he faced was designated hitter Ben Rice, and on his third pitch to the Yankees' leading home-run hitter, Rice deposited a 96-mph sinker that was right in the middle of the plate 423 feet to deep center field and Monument Park to extend the Yankees' lead to 2-0.  Tolle had struck Rice out swinging in the third (the only time he was retired in the game) and gave up a double to him in the first.

That point of Tracy’s decision could prove not to be the deciding factor, as the rest of his bullpen gave up seven more runs, including a grand slam to Rice, the 16th four-bagger in the Yankees' illustrious postseason history, in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete the scoring.

"I just think we were in a point where the way the game was going along, that if we could try to keep the game there, but also trying to keep guys short as we moved through it," Tracy said.

"Obviously, we had fallen down by four, and if we can try to keep guys short, stay in the game, and still have people online for tomorrow. But obviously the game was getting away from us at that point."

Rice finished with six RBIs, tying a team postseason record shared with four other players, and the Red Sox bullpen, which had the third-best ERA in baseball during the regular season at 3.27, couldn’t get the outs that were needed at critical times. It’s also too bad their opponents led MLB in that category at 3.15, as New York’s relievers surrendered only a Trevor Story double in the top of the eighth in the final three innings.

Tracy’s relievers were more than inefficient; the Yankees teed off on bad pitches and had great plate discipline. Tolle’s night ended after he struck out four batters in his 4⅔ innings of work, and the Yankees, who struck out the sixth most of any team, whiffing 1,480 times in 2026, didn’t strike out the rest of the game.

But no matter what the bullpen did, Boston's hitters could do nothing with Yankees starter Cam Schiltter, who struck out 10 in 6⅓ innings in 117 pitches of work and who, at one point, sent down 13 straight batters.

“Cam was obviously awfully good,” Tracy said. “The fastball shapes are well-documented. He's throwing hard. He also had a good curveball today that you know it's there, but he used it a little bit more often. He landed it if he wanted to for strikes. He was able to get it beneath for a swing-and-miss. We weren't able to do much with him.”

Compounding problems for the Red Sox was the injury to leadoff hitter Roman Anthony, who exited in the fifth inning after aggravating a wrist injury. Tracy says he is not sure of Anthony’s availability for Game 2.

But the Red Sox are relying on Sonny Gray in Game 2 to help extend their season and give his battered bullpen some relief.

"I think we're very comfortable with all of our starters, the way that they've performed during the course of the season," Tracy said. "So having him out there tomorrow, anytime he's out there, we feel good about it. But having him out there tomorrow, obviously the season's on the line for us, and he can handle that."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Red Sox's usually dependable bullpen implodes vs. Yankees in Game 1 rout

No matter what your worst expectations were for this game, you probably didn’t expect this. Three Padres pitchers combined for a three-hit 8-0 shutout in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series.

Padres starter Michael King came out and absolutely dominated the Cubs. Whether he was amped up because of the situation or the Cubs were flat because of their ridiculous situation over the past week, it didn’t matter. It was probably both. The Cubs could do nothing against him and he made the lineup look like minor leaguers.

Meanwhile, the Padres got off to a fast start as leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a first-pitch changeup over the center field wall. Pete Crow-Armstrong got some leather on it, but not nearly enough. After Boyd retired Samad Taylor on a bunt attempt, he gave up a second solo home run to Manny Machado, this one into the left-field bleachers. Once again, it was on a changeup. At the end of one inning, it was 2-0 Padres.

Boyd recovered in the second inning and retired the side in order, but then he had to face Tatis and Machado again in the third. Boyd was much more careful with Tatis the second time, but he ended up walking him. After striking out Taylor for the second out of the inning, Machado lined a four-seamer that caught too much of the plate for an RBI double to make it 3-0 San Diego after three.

It might has well have been 10-0 Padres at that point the way King was pitching. Seiya Suzuki reached on an error in the second inning. King walked Crow-Armstrong after two outs in the third and PCA promptly stole second, but the Cubs couldn’t cash in either mistake. Suzuki walked in the fourth and Michael Busch walked in the sixth. But the Cubs were unable to get a hit off King until Nico Hoerner hit a hard grounder down the third base line that Machado couldn’t handle cleanly. It wouldn’t have mattered. Machado would not have thrown out the speedy Hoerner at first and the Cubs had their first and only hit. It was the top of the seventh inning.

By that point, things were out of hand anyways. Boyd gave up his third solo home run of the game in the fourth inning to Xander Bogaerts that banged off the Western Metal Supply Company building down the left field line. Once again, it was off a changeup, but this one was right down the heart of the plate.

Javier Assad came in to pitch the fifth inning and the Padres blew the game open with three more runs. Assad loaded bases with two outs after a leadoff single, a two-out walk and a single to left that the catcher couldn’t score from second base on. Then manager Craig Counsell went to the bullpen and called on Ryan Rolison. A two-run single and a passed ball by Carson Kelly meant that all three inherited runners scored and it was 7-0.

The Padres added another run in the seventh inning to make it 8-0 when Tatis reached on a slow roller of an infield single. He then stole second base and scored all the way from second when Kelly’s throw bounced into left field.

There was a big moment in the top of the ninth when Padres manager Craig Stammen called on Joe Musgrove out of the bullpen. Musgrove was a surprise addition to the roster as he hadn’t pitched since 2024. Musgrove struck out Busch with his first pitch and then gave up a single to Suzuki. Next he walked Happ and Hoerner loaded the bases with a single for the Cubs’ third hit. But Pedro Ramírez then popped out and pinch-hitter Michael Conforto struck out to end the game.

People overuse the phrase “must-win” game, but Wednesday’s Game 2 and hopefully Thursday’s Game 3 are “must-win.” The Cubs cannot repeat the lethargic performance they turned in tonight. The offense needs to get into gear and the pitchers need to hit their spots better. Teams that lost the first game of a Wild Card Series under this current format are 1-15. Now there is probably some small-sample size variation there and the Cubs chances are probably a bit better than 6 percent, but under no circumstances is it anything other than a long shot that the Cubs come back and win the next two games. But “long shot” does not mean impossible. So let’s do it.

4 Wild card games yesterday. In chronological order:

Braves 5, Phillies 3

• Chris Sale and Jesús Luzardo were both good. Luzardo’s bullpen let him down big time. Because his bullpen has been so bad this season, Phils manager Don Mattingly put Jhoan Duran out there for a 9-out save. He did not get 9 outs. Duran got Will Brennan’d by Austin Riley, who hit a 3-run homer off him in the middle of his second inning of work. There ended up not being a 9th inning for PHI to pitch, because they did nothing in the top of the 9th and lost.

White Sox 6, Astros 3

• I’m gonna be a bit dramatic here and say the Astros didn’t really respect their opponent heading into this game. The White Sox have many flaws, but their hitters are both pesky and good. Houston apparently thought they could pepper them with garbage relief arms and succeed. This bullpen game strategy did not work one bit for Houston, who probably should have given up 13 runs. CWS could not really hit with RISP which kept this one way closer than it should have been.

Yankees 9, Red Sox 0

• Payton Tolle pitched well. The Boston bullpen behind him got shelled. We expected the Sox bullpen to stink this week—we thought those socks would be White.

Padres 8, Cubs 0

• The Cubs have baseball’s best offense and worst pitching. Only the latter individuals showed up Tuesday night. The Padres looked awesome in this game. Michael King was so good that they only needed to score 1 run, which they had 1 batter into the game. King allowed just 1 hit, an infield ground ball to Manny Machado whose attempt at making a spectacular play… didn’t happen.

And now something fun:

Tuesday's Game 1 of the Wild Card Series between the Yankees and Red Sox went as expected.

Both starters, Cam Schlittler and Payton Tolle, lived up to their hype, allowing just one run between them through the first four innings. However, things shifted in the fifth. 

After Tolle got the first two outs on eight pitches, Red Sox manager Chad Tracy came out to pull his talented young left-hander after 83 pitches. The 23-year-old wasn't as dominant as he had been for most of this season. The Red Sox skipper said the Yankees did a good job of making Tolle work and had a lot of traffic on the bases, which the southpaw navigated out of with minimal damage, but there were a few factors in Tracy's decision. 

"He competed extremely well for the time he was out there," Tracy said. "He gave us what he could. The number being up in the mid-80s, still trying to get through five [innings], probably higher than what you normally see from Payton, and to be expected in an environment like this, but I thought he competed his butt off."

Tracy decided to use left-hander Erik Miller to face Ben Rice and finish the fifth. Rice came into the at-bat with a double in the first inning before Tolle struck him out swinging in the third. However, Rice smashed a 97 mph sinker over the heart of the plate that traveled 423 feet to straightaway center field for his first home run of the night, and put the Yankees up 2-0. 

BEN RICE. 2-0! pic.twitter.com/PgXWZtTKcI

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 30, 2026

The move and the immediate aftermath led to questions about Tracy's decision. And he elaborated on his thought process and chalked it up to Rice getting one off of Miller.

"Not necessarily just the pitch count," Tracy said. "You’re trailing already. You’re moving third time through the order. Rice had already hit a double in the gap off of him. And you have a nice lane there for Miller and obviously, he got him. Felt like it was time to go."

"As a competitor, as a starting pitcher in this league, you want to go as long as you can every time," Tolle said after the game. "But with what our bullpen has done all year, I believe they are going to make the right decision. I want to go as long as I can, but I understand those guys picked me up a lot this year."

Despite the Rice homer, Boston was only down two runs with plenty of time to make a comeback. But it was a jolt that the Yankees needed at the moment.

"That was electric. That insurance run, that was huge for us. A little bit of breathing room," Spencer Jones said after the game. "He smoked that ball. We were super fired up about it."

That electricity was taken out on the Boston bullpen, which couldn't keep the score close. The Red Sox wound up using five relievers, who allowed eight runs, including a grand slam to Rice that put the game away in the eighth. 

With the loss, the Red Sox face elimination in Game 2 on Wednesday night. The team has faced adversity all season long to get to this point, but they understand the challenge they face.

"That’s why Tolle was out there; that’s why Schlittler was out there. Trying really hard to get Game 1 and now you have to win two in a row," Tracy said. "You have to be aggressive and try to win as many moments as we can. Because now we have to win two in a row to keep our season alive." 

"I haven’t heard the fat lady sing yet," Tolle said. "We’re going to keep going out there. I believe in us. It’s going to be fun to watch these guys compete tomorrow."

Former Yankee Sonny Gray will take the mound for Boston, looking to force a deciding Game 3. 

Superstar captain Aaron Judge was absent from both the Yankees lineup and the pregame player-by-player introductions due to a calf injury, which kept him off the team's Wild Card roster. 

Slugging DH Giancarlo Stanton and CF Trent Grisham were available off the bench to pinch-hit, but both remain somewhat sidelined by injuries of their own.

With lefty hurler Payton Tolle starting for the Red Sox, two everyday lefty batters (Luis Garcia Jr. and Ryan McMahon) were benched in favor of righty platoon options (Heliot Ramos and Amed Rosario).

Ramos, Rosario, and the three lefty pinch hitters, who were eventually subbed in (Grisham, Garcia Jr., and McMahon), batted a combined 0-for-7 on the night.

None of it mattered.

The Yankees offense knocked Tolle out of the game in the fifth inning, then proceeded to bludgeon Boston's bullpen and cruised to a commanding 9-0 win to take Game 1 of their best-of-three Wild Card series.

Ben Rice will steal the headlines with his two home runs - including a late grand slam to put the game well out of reach - and six RBI. However, multi-hit nights from George Lombard Jr. and Austin Wells in the bottom half of the Yankees batting order deserve plenty of plaudits as well.

Lombard made his playoff debut in front of a frenetic crowd in the Bronx, and delivered with a terrific 3-for-4 night at the plate, coming around to score two runs.

"It's really cool," the 21-year-old said following his first taste of postseason baseball. "It's definitely an honor and I have to pinch myself every now and then, but we know what the goal is and we know what we're all trying to do as a group."

Wells, meanwhile, drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly, finishing his night having gone 2-for-3, plus a walk for good measure.

"The runs added up there at the end, but I think the guys did a great job of extending the lineup," said the catcher postgame. "Great at-bats up and down [the lineup], waiting for great pitches, being stubborn in the box, getting into some of their bullpen guys."

Wells, of course, struggled mightily during the regular season with a career-worst .624 OPS, but has looked much more poised at the plate lately.

With both Stanton and Judge missing from the Yankees lineup in 2026, the team was just 52-43.

In those games, the Bronx Bombers hit for a .690 OPS and tallied a shade over 4.2 runs scored per game. For reference, across the 2026 regular season, MLB teams averaged a .718 OPS and 4.48 runs scored per game.

 If Wells can tap into his form from years prior this fall, and if Lombard's unflappable plate approach carries onward, they could be real X-factors to ignite a Yankees offense, which had been searching for answers without their big boppers in the lineup.

"We'll have a chance to close it out [in Game 2], but it's one win," concluded manager Aaron Boone. "We got the blinders on, but it's a confident group."

"If we can play our game, we can beat anyone."

BEN RICE BRINGS THE HAMMER DOWN!

A grand slam and the Yankees lead 9-0! pic.twitter.com/42w0x95BAD

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 30, 2026

NEW YORK — Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony left Game 1 of the American League wild card series against the New York Yankees in the fifth inning, and his availability for Game 2 is uncertain.

Anthony, the leadoff hitter, struck out to start the game, but whiffed again when he came up in the third; he was replaced by pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio in the top of the sixth inning.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy revealed what led to the decision to remove Anthony, who had his hand wrapped during his at-bats, and said that this latest injury was different from the one that put him on the injured list earlier in the year.

"There were a couple of check swings in each of the at-bats that bothered it. And swinging through the last second at-bat, swinging through, like, after the check swings, he still felt discomfort on the swings," Tracy said.

"I don't know yet. We're still talking through. The game just ended but it's difficult. Obviously it flares up on him and becomes uncomfortable, and you have to make a move there. So we'll see what the next steps are, but yeah, it was difficult."

Anthony, 22, also missed three months of the 2026 season with a partial tendon tear in his right ring finger, and it was the same hand that caused him to exit the 9-0 Game 1 loss, which put Boston's season on the brink.

"Nothing like this, no. He's obviously coming off that. Like, you'll get a stinger every once in a while where you feel something; it's fine, it goes away, but today it was obviously something to have him come out of the game. Today, some stuff happened that was more serious and was uncomfortable," Tracy said.

"It's hard to say right now. It's one of those things where he obviously was in a lot of discomfort. So we had to remove him. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

Anthony also missed last year's postseason with a left oblique strain. In two seasons with the Red Sox, Anthony has played in 126 games, with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs.

Yankees vs Red Sox schedule

• Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 29 – Yankees 9, Red Sox 0
• Game 2: Wednesday – 8 p.m. – buy tickets, NBC & Peacock
• Game 3*: Thursday – 8 p.m. – buy tickets, NBC & Peacock

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Roman Anthony injury update as Red Sox lose leadoff hitter vs Yankees