The Rivalry Is Back, But So Is The Red Sox Playoff Inferiority Against The Yankees

By: Chris Felico

For the fourth time in more than two decades, the Boston Red Sox had a golden opportunity to remind the New York Yankees that October belongs to them. With a roster many considered the weakest Red Sox playoff squad in over 20 years, Boston could have still sent their bitter rivals home early. After a thrilling Game 1 victory, it felt like the Sox might shock the baseball world. Instead, the old ghosts of Yankee Stadium reemerged, and the Bronx Bombers flipped the narrative back to pre-2004 form.

Game 1 belonged to Garrett Crochet. The lefty delivered a performance for the ages, stifling the Yankees across seven dominant innings in a 3-1 win. Even when disaster loomed in the ninth, Aroldis Chapman somehow wriggled out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam without allowing a run. It felt like a momentum-shifting night — the kind of gritty playoff win Boston once stacked up during their golden years of dominance over New York.

But from the moment Game 2 began, the Red Sox looked like a different team. Their “number two” starter, Bryan Bello, was tagged early when Yankee platoon sensation Ben Rice — a budding Sox-killer — crushed a two-run homer. That set the tone for a night defined not by New York’s overwhelming power, but by Boston’s inability to execute in big moments.

The unraveling continued with a crushing mistake in left field. Jarren Duran dropped a routine fly ball that flipped the game on its head. What should have been a tie score before Trevor Story’s home run instead turned into a Yankee lead. Add in a brutal baserunning mistake by Nate Eaton, who cost the Red Sox a chance to tie the game at four, and Boston turned what could have been a 4-3 victory into a 4-3 collapse.

Suddenly, the Sox went from a chance to sweep the series 2-0 to staring down a winner-take-all Game 3 in the Bronx. The Yankees smelled blood, and Boston looked like the overwhelmed, overmatched, and hesitant team fans had seen far too often before 2004.

Game 3 was Boston’s chance to prove the rivalry’s balance of power hadn’t shifted back. Instead, it became a painful reminder of old wounds. Rookie Connelly Early was handed the ball, but his defense betrayed him — grounders were booted, fly balls dropped, and routine outs turned into rallies. Early battled, but it wasn’t enough to match the brilliance of New York’s own rookie phenom.

Cam Schlittler, making his playoff debut, looked like a star born under the lights. The right-hander silenced Boston over eight shutout innings, striking out 12 without issuing a single walk. His performance had shades of Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte in their prime, and it left the Red Sox lineup completely helpless.

What made it worse was that the Yankees didn’t even need their trademark power to win. They only hit two home runs all series compared to Boston’s lone Trevor Story blast. The difference was execution. New York manufactured runs with timely at-bats, while Boston stranded runners and sabotaged themselves with defensive miscues and questionable situational hitting.

In truth, the Red Sox were never likely to win a Game 3 in the Bronx with their rotation so depleted. Crochet had done his part in Game 1, but Bello faltered in Game 2, Giolito remained sidelined, and Early, while serviceable, couldn’t match Schlitler’s brilliance. Boston’s pitching depth — long their Achilles heel — once again proved fatal.

And if it wasn’t the pitching, then it was the offense’s approach. The Sox scored just three, three, and zero runs across the series, repeatedly stranding men on base. In Game 2, Cedanne Rafaela’s ill-advised bunt attempt in a tie game with runners on first and second and nobody out summed it up: poor execution and wasted chances. Even the 4-0 loss in Game 3 felt worse than the scoreboard showed. Outside of Masataka Yoshida, Trevor Story, and Nick Sogard, the bats simply didn’t show up.

The cold reality is this: the Red Sox were just two plays away in Game 2 from sweeping the Yankees and continuing to rewrite the story of the rivalry. Instead, those mistakes turned into a collapse, and the Yankees walked away with their first true playoff upper hand in over 20 years. The echoes of 2003 were undeniable — and cruelly, the manager on the other side was still Aaron Boone.

But unlike 2004, there is no David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, or Curt Schilling waiting to flip the script. Instead, Boston must hope that the return of young players like Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Triston Casas, along with veteran pitchers like Lucas Giolito, Tanner Houck, and Kutter Crawford, will be enough to help restore balance. Until then, the rivalry is back — but so is the Yankees’ October dominance.