The Yankees, on the brink of elimination, struggled with runners on base and with runners in scoring position throughout much of game two.
The lineup’s woes against Brayan Bello and the marching line of Red Sox relievers was about to leave the door open for another frustrating conversation about the makeup of the offense, a topic that has been a regular one in Octobers during the Aaron Boone era.
But Austin Wells came through against Boston reliever Garrett Whitlock, working a full count with two outs in the bottom of the eight before lacing an RBI single down the right field line to score Jazz Chisholm to break a 3-3 tie and even the series heading into a do-or-die game three on Thursday.
Chisholm, who didn’t do much to hide his frustration about not being in the starting lineup in game one, worked a two-out walk and took off for second on the 3-2 pitch to Wells, allowing him to score from first after Wells’ line drive took an awkward bounce off the low wall down the right field line. It was a close play at the plate, but Chisholm slide in just ahead of the tag to ignite the capacity crowd in the Bronx.
"I told the first baseman, 'Any ball hit to his left or right, I was gonna score,'" a confident Chisholm told the YES Network on the field after the win. "That's all that was going through my mind. If he gets a ball into any corner or any gap, I'm scoring no matter what.
"As soon as he hit it, it didn't matter. I was going home."
Chisholm also saved a potential go-ahead run for the Sox in the seventh when he made a full-extension diving stop on a hard grounder from Masataka Yoshida, holding Boston’s pinch hitter to an infield single. Had the ball gone through, Nate Eaton would have scored to put the Red Sox in front.
Instead, the game remained tied and set the stage for Wells’ heroics in the eighth, while David Bednar, after giving up a crucial run in the ninth in game one, shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning to seal the thrilling 4-3 win.
Devin Williams and Fernando Cruz also did their jobs out of the pen after the relievers spoiled a Max Fried gem in game one.
The Yankees jumped out to an immediate lead thanks to Ben Rice, who drilled a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to give the Bombers a 2-0 edge. Rice, who was not in the starting lineup in game one, smoked the first pitch he saw into the right field seats, already eclipsing the run total the Bombers put up against Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman in Tuesday’s series opener.
Rodon, who looked sharp through the first two innings, got himself into trouble in the third, walking the light-hitting Ceddanne Rafaela after a Jarred Duran single to put runners on first and second. Nick Sogard followed and dropped down a bunt in front of the mound, and Rodon spun and spiked the throw into the ground in front of first base, pulling Chisholm off the bag. The error on Rodon loaded the bases for Boston with nobody out.
Unlike the Yanks in game one, the Red Sox did not spoil their bases loaded, no out rally, as Trevor Story lined a game-tying single to center before Rodon escaped further trouble thanks to a beautiful 4-6-3 double play turned by Chisholm and Anthony Volpe.
New York knocked on the door to retake the lead in the bottom half of the frame, putting runners on first and second with one out and forcing an aggressive Cora to pull Bello for lefty Justin Wilson. After Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge advanced to second and third on a steal by Grisham and a passed ball, Cody Bellinger popped out to left and Rice smoked a 109 mph liner to right that was caught by Eaton, ending the threat.
The Yanks had barrelled up Bello for most of his brief outing, prompting Cora to go to the bullpen after just seven outs, 24 hours after riding Garrett Crochet for 7.2 innings.
New York reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out rally, as Grisham worked a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Judge, his second of the game and fourth of the series. Judge lofted a shallow fly ball on a two-strike pitch, and Duran seemed to have a beat on it in left, but the ball glanced off the side of his glove as he charged in hard after the sinking liner, allowing Grisham to score to make it 3-2 Yanks.
Boston wasted no time pulling back even thanks again to Story, who jumped all over a 2-0 fastball from Rodon to lead off the sixth and cranked it into the left field seats to tie the game at three apiece, with the Red Sox shortstop driving in all three runs.
Rodon issued a walk on four straight pitches after the Story home run, prompting Aaron Boone to go to the mound with Cruz warming in the bullpen. But Boone stuck with his starter after the mound visit, and Rodon rewarded his manager by forcing Romy Gonzalez to pop out and Carlos Narvaez to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Boone stuck with Rodon to start the seventh, only this time, it wasn’t rewarded. Rodon lost the plate from the start of the inning, walking Eaton on four pitches, then hitting Duran with a pitch after a wild pitch advanced Eaton to second, having thrown eight straight balls. With runners on first and second and nobody out in the seventh, Boone went to Cruz to escape the jam.
Cruz forced Rafaela to pop out back to the mound on a bunt attempt, and after a Sogard flyout to left, Yoshida smacked a hard grounder to the right side of second base, which Chisholm tracked down with a full-extension dive. Hustling to his feet and throwing to first, the bouncer wasn’t in time to get a sliding Yoshida, as Rice fumbled the short hop at the bag. Eaton help up at third base, though seemingly could have scored if he kept running. Instead, Cruz retired Story in a tense moment for the Yanks, as Story flirted with a grand slam before Grisham tracked the deep fly ball just in front of the track in dead center.
The narrow escape set things up for the two-out rally in the eighth, ensuring the Yanks would survive another night and hand the ball to rookie Cam Schlittler in a decisive game three, with an ALDS berth on the line.