The Boston Red Sox keep on treating their fans with more excitement than they hoped for. Despite being projected to struggle in 2021, the Red Sox not only made it to the postseason but have now also beaten the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game to advance to AL Divisional Series.
It wasn’t a secret that the Yankees hoped to match up with the Red Sox in the wild-card game, believing that would set them on an easier path for a deep playoff run. However, Boston came out swinging and easily sent the Yanks packing thanks to great performances by ace Nathan Eovaldi, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and outfielder Kyle Schwarber.
Eovaldi picked up the win for the night by striking out eight and posting a 1.69 ERA while also allowing just two hits in the first five innings.
Bogaerts hit a 427 feet home run in the first inning to give the Red Sox a 2-0. Then Schwarber added a 435 homer in the third inning to increase the lead to 3-0.
It was all Boston until the sixth inning when Anthony Rizzo homered to make it 1-3 for the Yankees. Still, the New York team failed to build from there and fell down 1-6 by the seventh inning. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the ninth to make it 2-6.
The Red Sox will now face last year’s AL champions, the Tampa Bay Rays, in ALDS, which starts on Thursday.
“Now, we go to the next one, and we’ve just got to be ready to face a great baseball team,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora after the game against the Yankees. “Coming into the season, everybody talked about them being the best team in the big leagues, and we have a huge challenge. But we’re ready for it.”
