Facing the playoffs without some of their young prospects and two starters, the injury-depleted Boston Red Sox turned to a rookie with only four MLB games of experience to pitch in a crucial, win-or-go-home road game. Connelly Early handled the situation with aplomb until his defense faltered and the New York Yankees’ bats wore him down, eliminating Boston by winning Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series with a score of 4-0 on Thursday night. The Red Sox became the first team to lose in the best-of-three round after winning Game 1 since the expanded format was introduced in 2022.
The absence of right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito and Tanner Houck, along with season-ending injuries to Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony, put the Red Sox at a disadvantage in Yankee Stadium. Despite this, Boston managed a gem from Garrett Crochet and a timely hit from Masataka Yoshida to win the first game and had opportunities to sweep, even after manager Alex Cora pulled Game 2 starter Brayan Bello after 2 and a half innings to go to the bullpen, which ultimately backfired. Early advanced, passing three innings without allowing runs before one of the regular season’s problems returned to haunt Boston in the fourth inning.This is brutal.
Alex Bregman
Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, right fielder Wilyer Abreu, and second baseman Romy Gonzalez converged on a fly ball from Cody Bellinger and dropped it between them, allowing a double. After a walk and three singles, Nathaniel Lowe couldn’t catch a grounder and two more runs scored, making it a 4-0 deficit.
Lowe, who joined in August after being cut by Washington, took the blame for not being able to make a play that could have stopped the situation.We don’t play defensively. The fly ball drops, it’s a double, and then there’s a walk. They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found the gaps and everything happened very quickly.
Alex Cora
The Red Sox led the majors with 116 errors, six more than Colorado, the worst team in the National League, and 17 more than any other team in the American League. The Yankees committed one by dropping a pop-up in foul territory, but Ryan McMahon’s catch, as he fell into the visiting dugout, and other good defensive plays behind rookie Cam Schlittler ensured that Boston never had much of a chance to get back in the game.I thought I could get to the low pitch. I didn’t. The middle pitch got me, and obviously runs came in, and we couldn’t make it up.
Nathaniel Lowe
Getting this far and losing in the first round hurts.
Nathaniel LoweJust by returning to the playoffs for the first time in four years, the Red Sox exceeded expectations, especially after the mid-June trade of Rafael Devers to San Francisco. At that time, they had a record of 37-36 and won 52 of 89 games to qualify.
That included dominating their biggest rival all season, winning 10 of 14 games against the Yankees, whom they had also turned the historical tables on in October since the beginning of the century. Boston had beaten New York in eight of 10 playoff games since coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the 2004 American League Championship Series, on their way to winning the franchise’s first World Series since 1918.I’m proud of the fight in the locker room, proud of the guys for fighting all year. Remember this feeling because it sucks. You don’t want to feel it.
Alex BregmanCompared to other years, we took a step forward. We didn’t finish as we wanted.
Alex Cora
