This was a Yankee Stadium wake-up call for the Red Sox

NEW YORK - Aaron Boone couldn't hide his satisfaction.

Sure, it was an August win, just the first of four games against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium over the weekend. But for the Yankees' manager, the 1-0 victory presented a taste of what is likely waiting exactly one month from now.

"Tonight's a great peek ... Everything matters," Boone relayed.

Welcome to the realities of postseason baseball.

For starters, the night offered a taste of why the importance of this series should be held in high regard. The environment in the Bronx was a difference-maker for the Yankees, who now sit three games up on the Red Sox in the race to host that first wild card round. Before the game, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy wasn't shy about the importance of getting home-field advantage, saying, "It's important. I won't shy away from that."

That was Wake-Up Call No. 1.

Then came the reminder regarding how every little thing in games like this can change the narrative of an entire season. Two baserunning blunders by Ceddanne Rafaela brought that to light.

First came the outfielder's lapse of judgment in the fifth inning, when he was caught drifting off first base on a routine fly ball to left field, ultimately leading to being doubled off for an inning-ending out. "That's a bad read on me. That's really bad," he said.

Then in the seventh inning, Rafaela erred on the side of aggression again, this time trying to tag up on a shallow fly ball to left fielder Cody Bellinger. And while it ultimately was a bang-bang play, with Bellinger's throw getting the better of the baserunner on a close play at home plate, the decision-making process was once again flawed.

As Rafaela admitted after the loss, third base coach Chad Epperson had tried to hold the baserunner, who decided to take matters into his own hand, ultimately landing with an inning-ending result.

"He tried [to hold me]," said Rafaela. "So that's on me. That's not him. Trying to be over aggressive, and those things happen."

The game also offered some of the kind of fork-in-the-roads that Tracy will navigate in the heat of the postseason. The most obvious coming in the sixth inning when he pushed his chips to the middle of the table by sending out three straight pinch-hitters to counter Boone bringing in lefty Brent Headrick after Caleb Durbin two-out walk ended starter Cam Schlittler's outing.

It almost worked.

Jahmai Jones (hitting for Mickey Gasper) walked, and Eli White (hitting for Jarren Duran) managed an infield single. That loaded the bases for Andruw Monasterio, who came on to hit for Anthony Seigler. A line-out to right field ended the threat, and continued a scoreless streak that had carried over from being shutout in Miami the night before.

"I think at that point, we’re into 14 innings where we're trying to get a run across,”"Tracy said. "It’s like, let’s take our shot and go right there. Almost got it, and it just didn't work."

The continued dominance by Schlittler against the Red Sox was another uneasy element for a Sox team that will likely be facing the Yankees ace on Sept. 29. The Walpole native has now given up two earned runs in 32 1/3 innings (0.56 ERA) against Boston, with the Yanks winning four of his five starts.

But even with Schlittler's continued dominance over the Red Sox, it wasn't as if there weren't opportunities against other arms. Yet, despite facing three relievers, the Sox's offense still resembled the punch-less bunch that it had been trying to bolster before another round of postseason baseball arrives.

The Red Sox have now lost five of their last seven games at Yankee Stadium, managing a total of one home run in the defeats. In the 15 games this club has lost since that turnaround in late June, 10 of them have seen the Sox go without a single home run. It's why the likes of Curtis Mead and Adley Rutschman were brought in.

Maybe the duo will emerge as difference-makers a month from now, but at the moment Mead is out with a broken wrist and Rutschman is in one of the worst slumps of his career, having gone 6-for-45 in his time with his new team, totaling a career-high swing-and-miss rate. It's also why the idea of the good versions of Roman Anthony and Trevor Story (both of whom could be in New York Sunday) are so important.

Now we find out if all of these lessons were learned.

"That's the plan, to win the series and go home," Rafaela said.