3 takeaways from the Yankees' Game 2 Wild Card Series win
Three takeaways from the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Red Sox in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series.
1. Cam-do attitude
The Yankees went into Wednesday’s win-or-go-home Game 2 knowing if they got to a deciding Game 3 rookie Cam Schlittler would be on the mound for his 15th big-league start. They are supremely confident in the 24-year-old righthander from Walpole, Massachusetts, where he grew up as a Red Sox fan.
Now, the Schlittlers from Walpole are Yankee fans.
“They are full Yankee guys now,” Schlittler said. “They don't wear it around as much in Boston just because. When they are here, they are very prideful about it.”
The Red Sox are also starting a rookie: lefthander Connelly Early, who will be making his fifth big-league start.
The Yankees chose Schlittler over Luis Gil and Will Warren. The Red Sox are being forced to start Early because expected Game 3 starter Lucas Giolito was ruled out for the postseason earlier this week due to an elbow injury.
2. This time, Boone wins chess match
Alex Cora delivered a master class of managing in Boston’s 3-1 win in the series opener. Yankees manager Aaron Boone faced massive criticism for some of his moves, such as taking out Max Fried after 6 1/3 shutout innings and bringing in eventual losing pitcher Luke Weaver.
On Wednesday, it wasn’t so much that Boone made all the right moves, but that Cora didn’t make one in the fateful bottom of the eighth that was a head-scratcher.
From the moment he removed starter Brayan Bello in the third inning of a 2-2 game, it was clear Cora was treating Game 2 as an elimination game for the Red Sox even though it wasn’t. Cora’s aggressive bullpen moves – he used seven pitchers – almost worked to give the Red Sox a series sweep.
But the one move Cora thought about but didn’t make may come back to bite him. He had closer Aroldis Chapman warming up in the seventh and eighth innings, presumably to keep the game tied at 3, but didn’t use him either time.
Righthander Garrett Whitlock worked around a one-out double by Trent Grisham in the seventh, but gave up the go-ahead single to Austin Wells in the eighth. Whitlock threw a season-high 47 pitches.
Once Wells’ single scored Jazz Chisholm Jr. all the way from first base, Chapman sat down. So why was he up in the first place after throwing 24 pitches for a four-out save in Game 1?
If Cora had brought in Chapman to face Wells, Boone could have countered with Paul Goldschmidt. Chapman can get out Goldschmidt.
Whitlock appeared to be tiring; pushing one of his best pitchers to new limits worked for Cora with Garrett Crochet on Tuesday. But now Whitlock is likely unavailable for more than a batter or two on Thursday in a game in which the Red Sox are probably going to need many outs from their bullpen since Early averaged 4 2/3 innings in his four starts.
Cora went for the jugular for most of the game, but when it came to replacing a tiring Whitlock with Chapman, he didn’t.
3. Williams gets the win
The were murmurs in the crowd when Devin Williams walked the first batter in the eighth inning of a 3-3 game. It’s fair to say Williams has not been a fan favorite in the Bronx this season.
Williams righted the ship by getting Nathaniel Lowe to ground into a 1-6-3 double play and then struck out Carlos Narvaez to end the inning.
On the double play, Williams had to lead Anthony Volpe on the throw like a quarterback throwing to a wide receiver. Volpe jumped to catch the ball, landed on the base and threw to first to complete the double play. It was one of several excellent defensive plays by the Yankees.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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