The New York Yankees are moving on to the American League Division Series for the third consecutive year after completing a two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 9-2 victory on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
New York broke open a close game with a six-run sixth inning, turning a 2-1 advantage into an 8-1 lead before adding another run in the seventh. The Yankees finished the Wild Card Series with 18 runs while allowing just two.
Max Fried delivered another strong postseason start, limiting Boston to one run on three hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked one while earning his third career postseason victory.
Luis GarcÃa Jr. got the Yankees on the board in the fourth inning with a solo home run off Sonny Gray, his first career postseason homer. GarcÃa added two singles to finish 3-for-5.
Cody Bellinger then extended the lead with an RBI single in the fifth before delivering the biggest blow of the night in the sixth. After George Lombard Jr., Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon each drove in a run, Bellinger launched a three-run home run to cap the six-run inning.
Bellinger finished with four runs batted in, while Wells added another RBI in the seventh.
New York collected 14 hits overall and scored nine runs in each game of the series despite playing without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton was on the active roster but did not appear in either game.
The victory sends the Yankees into the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Tropicana Field.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.