Yankees Edge Red Sox in Game 2 of AL Wild-Card Series

On Wednesday, the Yankees pulled off a tightly contested 4-3 victory against the Red Sox in Game 2 of the AL Wild-Card series. If you’re not too familiar with their recent history, you might think this felt like one of their wins from before 2004.

As the Yankees evened the series at home, they had some help from the Red Sox, who made crucial mistakes that pushed the need for a deciding game. One pivotal moment came from Aaron Judge, whose RBI “single” in the fifth inning provided a temporary lift for New York.

But it didn’t stop there. One of the more baffling plays occurred when Nate Eaton found himself stuck on third base after Jazz Chisholm Jr. failed to execute a diving stop on a grounder hit by pinch hitter Yoshida. Chisholm seemed slow to react, and by the time he got back on his feet, there was no way to prevent Eaton from reaching home.

To add insult to injury, Chisholm’s throw to first base sailed past Ben Rice, which didn’t help their cause at all.

Eaton remained at third, and later Fernando Cruz stepped up, managing to tie the game with a run into deep center during the seventh inning.

“It was obviously a big play,” Eaton remarked to reporters. After the Yankees made their advancement at the bottom of the eighth, that victory felt all the more real. “We didn’t score,” he reflected. “I couldn’t really see everything from third. I was told to stop, but then I lost track of the ball when it got to Rice.”

Later on, as Cruz replaced Carlos Rodon in a critical moment, there was no one out, but a bunt attempted by Seddanne Rafaela didn’t quite go as planned, disrupting their rally. This was followed by a miscued play when Duran, who had been playing deep in left field, misjudged Judge’s fly ball, which ended up as a single driving in Grisham.

“I know I was deep for Judge, but when I came in, I thought it was higher than it actually was,” Duran admitted. It’s just one of those moments, I guess. It happens.