The Boston Red Sox returned to the postseason after missing the October action in five of the previous six seasons, and their Wild Card round did not go as Red Sox Nation hoped.
They faced their archrival New York Yankees after taking the season series against them in commanding 9-4 fashion, but their earlier success did not carry over. Boston battled severely diminished pitching depth and injuries to critical bats, but in the end, it beat itself.
The Red Sox made managerial mistakes, couldn’t get the bats going and made far too many defensive miscues to win any playoff series, let alone a high-stakes rivalry Wild Card. Here are the three worst mistakes that led to the Red Sox’s first postseason loss to the Yankees since 2003.
The 3 biggest mistakes of the Red Sox’s Wild Card series loss to the Yankees
Alex Cora pulled Brayan Bello too early in Game 2
After allowing just two runs in 2.1 innings, Alex Cora pulled Brayan Bello out of Game 2. After a dominant, 117 pitch performance by Garrett Crochet in Game 1, the Sox’s bullpen was well rested. So Cora burned it early.
Bello has an established history of success against the Yankees, with a 1.89 ERA and a .172 batting average against this season. He was hit around in the early innings of Game 2, but he hadn’t made enough mistakes to quit on him, especially with Connelly Early — who had only made four big league starts in his life — pitching in Game 3.
Cora used every arm in the bullpen except Greg Weissert, Kyle Harrison and the out-of-commission Aroldis Chapman. He noted that Bello would be available out of the bullpen in Game 3, but never used him when Early needed a lift.
The Red Sox didn’t send Nate Eaton home in Game 2
Boston had a golden opportunity to take a lead in Game 2 with its fastest runner, Nate Eaton, at third base in the seventh inning. Masataka Yoshida knocked a grounder to Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base, who tossed the ball to Ben Rice at first. In an attempt to make a play, Rice bobbled the ball, and Yoshida dove in safely.
Eaton, who took of running from second base on contact, had already rounded third base by the time the ball reached Rice. He easily could’ve scored to take a lead with his staggering 98th-percentile speed, but third base coach Kyle Harrison held him up. Cora doubled-down after the game and said he didn’t think Eaton could’ve scored.
Even with two outs on the board, the Red Sox needed to send Eaton home for the run. The offense hadn’t produced reliably all night, with only six hits by the end of the game. With little home run pop in the order, Boston’s bats couldn’t compete in New York.
Defensive miscues and errors in Game 3
The Yankees were endlessly roasted for their bad fundamentals that led to their 2024 World Series loss against the Dodgers. The Red Sox couldn’t avoid the same fate.
The mistakes began in the second inning on Giancarlo Stanton’s leadoff double. The slugger thought he’d homered, so he admired his ball and took his time leaving the batter’s box. All the while, Jarren Duran jogged to the fence while watching the ball fly over his head while Stanton and his first-percentile sprint speed legged out a double. Nothing came of the hit, but it was the Yankees’ first off the rookie Early in just the fifth big league start of his career.
In the fourth inning, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu took poor routes to a fly ball off the bat of Cody Bellinger, which ended up a double. Early began to falter then, letting up a walk and three singles to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Austin Wells put an exclamation point on the inning by hitting at Nathaniel Lowe, who deflected the ball off his glove toward Romy Gonzalez, who did the same thing.
Boston’s miscues handed New York four runs in one inning, the only ones it scored in the entire game. Early posted an excellent first three frames, but finished the game with a 7.36 ERA and a glaring 0.68 FIP. The Red Sox led the league with 116 errors in the regular season.
