David Lennon: Not having Aaron Judge is simply not a problem as Yanks rout Red Sox in Wild Card Series
Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates in the clubhouse after defeating the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026 at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Newsday/William Perlman
By the start of the Wild Card Series, another classic showdown with the Red Sox, the Yankees already had moved beyond the haunting question of Aaron Judge’s possible return date to an even more complicated riddle for these playoffs.
Could they win without him?
In a span of roughly 48 hours, the Yankees delivered the answer, loud and clear, then popped champagne in celebration.
Subtracting Judge, a three-time MVP and arguably the planet’s most dangerous hitter, was barely noticeable as the Yankees completed a demoralizing sweep with Wednesday night’s 9-2 beatdown of the Red Sox in Game 2 before a sellout crowd of 49,004.
The scripts for both victories were almost identical. Max Fried followed Cam Schlittler’s Game 1 gem with six nearly airtight innings of his own (one run allowed, six strikeouts), and the Yankees’ trickle of runs early became a firehose later.
On Tuesday, it was a grand slam by Ben Rice in a five-run eighth inning. In Game 2, Garrett Whitlock intentionally walked Rice and Cody Bellinger followed with a three-run homer to cap a six-run sixth.
The Yankees outclassed the Red Sox in every way imaginable. They outscored them 18-2 and outhit them 26-7. Dating to last year’s Wild Card Series, the Yankees pitched 26 straight scoreless playoff innings against the Red Sox before Willson Contreras homered off Fried with two outs in the sixth.
“You got to show it,” Fried said afterward, goggles pushed back over his soaked hat, his eyes stinging. “It’s one thing to do it on paper, but it’s another to be able to come out and show it between the lines. We know what we’re capable of — but it’s about being able to match or reach that potential.”
Every year, the Yankees are built to be world champions, and Hal Steinbrenner laid out $340 million — MLB’s third-highest payroll — with the purpose of snapping the franchise’s 16-year title drought. Humiliating the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series is only the first step in pursuit of that goal, and the Yankees made it look like a first-round bye, setting up a Division Series clash with the Rays, the American League’s top seed, that begins Saturday at Tropicana Field.
“I don’t think we messed around,” a champagne-drenched Schlittler said. “I think we got to work right away. My job is to go out there and set the tone [Tuesday]. We did that. Then Max came in there today and gave us a shot. The offense was able to explode there towards the end. I think being able to get it done in two just gives us more confidence and a little bit of a breather.”
The dugout leadership was a mismatch, too. Boston’s Chad Tracy, the likely AL Manager of the Year for piloting his club’s miraculous turnaround, launched them into oblivion during this series. He pulled Game 1 starter Payton Tolle after 83 pitches, and reliever Erik Miller immediate teed up a solo blast by Rice. The following night, Tracy lifted Sonny Gray after 70 pitches, and Miller surrendered Bellinger’s RBI single.
“Obviously, winning those type of games are better than close games,” said Bellinger, who had four RBIs. “So it was good. A few off days and we've got to get right back at it.”
While Tracy’s pitiful Sox stumbled, Aaron Boone & Co. could do no wrong. The Yankees flipped their lineup for Game 2, going with eight lefthanded hitters for the first time in MLB postseason history, according to YES stats guy James Smyth.
Spencer Jones manned rightfield in Judge’s absence, hitting cleanup. Bellinger took over Judge’s customary No. 2 spot, between Rice and Luis Garcia Jr. (the latter a deadline trade specifically done to offset Judge’s lengthy IL stint). The Garcia move instantly paid dividends when he took Gray deep leading off the fourth to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
A day earlier, the Yankees rolled to a 9-0 Game 1 rout, powered by Rice’s two-homer, six-RBI performance, and racked up a dozen hits overall. But the Sox going from Tolle in the opener to Gray for Game 2 prompted Boone to implement wholesale changes: Garcia for Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr. for Anthony Volpe and Trent Grisham for Heliot Ramos.
Boone’s faith in his lefty bats again was rewarded in this short series, and not strictly for matchup purposes. At one point, the Yankees’ lefthanded hitters were on an 11-for-18 roll (.611) vs. Boston’s lefty pitchers in the two games before coming up empty in their final four at-bats of Game 2. By then, the Sox’s heads had to be spinning.
“I think the experience of playing against that so much this year,” Boone said. “They faced so many guys for months where we were very lefthanded — in the fifth inning every day, it was one lefty and then another one because that's how they attack us. So I'd like to think some of that familiarity and reps and all that prepared us well.”
There’s no trophy for the wild-card winner. But the Yankees played like a team on a mission in steamrolling the Sox — with zero weaknesses — and could not have picked a better time with the calendar now officially flipping to October.
“All year, we just kept our heads down and tried to work,” said Judge, who partied with his teammates but didn’t offer a return date. “I know we didn’t win the division. We weren’t the No. 1 seed. But we’re not trying to make a statement. We’re just trying to play our game and care of business.”
For the second straight season, it was business as usual for the Yankees in kicking the Red Sox out of the playoffs. Only more quickly this time, and with an eye on bigger things ahead.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
