Yankees beat Red Sox 9-2 to sweep AL Wild Card Series

Yankees close out the sweep at home

New York beat Boston 9-2 on a Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium to finish off a two-game Wild Card Series sweep. The Yankees scored single runs in the fourth and fifth before the game broke open. Willson Contreras had given the Red Sox a brief lift with a home run that snapped a 26-inning scoreless streak for Boston in the postseason, cutting it to 2-1.

New York answered with a six-run sixth inning. Spencer Jones reached base on a wild pitch after a strikeout call was overturned on video review, and the Yankees kept piling on from there. Cody Bellinger capped the inning with a three-run homer that made it 8-1. New York added one more run in the seventh for the final 9-2 margin. Max Fried started for the Yankees and held Boston down again in the playoffs, repeating what he did against the Red Sox a year earlier.

A family moment for Bellinger

Bellinger finished with four RBI, the biggest coming on that three-run homer in the sixth. Before the game, he caught the ceremonial first pitch thrown by his father, Clay Bellinger, who was on the 2000 Yankees team that won the World Series. "We enjoyed tonight. We got a lot more work to do," Bellinger said after the win, calling the sweep "Step one" with the Division Series still ahead.

Luis Garcia Jr., acquired by New York at the trade deadline, collected three hits in his first career postseason start. Aaron Judge, who missed the series with an injury, told teammates spraying him with champagne in the clubhouse that "this makes me feel young every single time," and said "The fans were electric from the first pitch."

Red Sox season ends in frustration

Boston's season is over after a run that included a stretch at 32-46 before the Red Sox rallied to make the playoffs. They were missing leadoff hitter Roman Anthony for this series because of a hand injury. Nick Sogard hit a seventh-inning homer off Will Warren for Boston's only other run, but the Red Sox batted just .117 (7-for-60) over the two games with 18 strikeouts, while New York hit .382 in the series. Boston's bullpen carried a 20.25 ERA across the two games.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said the team's goal all year was the World Series and that ended Wednesday. He added that right now, "the guys only care that we lost," and that it will take time to get past.

Judge's calf and a quick turn to Tampa Bay

Judge sat out the entire Wild Card Series with a right calf strain and said afterward he is not sure if he will be ready when New York opens the Division Series against Tampa Bay on Saturday. Other Yankees currently out include Clarke Schmidt with a pinched nerve in his right bicep, Ryan Weathers with a left forearm strain, and Fernando Cruz with a right elbow sprain.

Boston heads into the offseason with its own injury list, including Johan Oviedo, Anthony Seigler, Kristian Campbell and Masataka Yoshida. New York will face AL East champion Tampa Bay, which beat the Yankees 7-6 in their season series. Judge summed up the quick turnaround simply: "Saturday's a long ways away."

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.