Yankees Enter AL Wild Card Game 2 Up 5-4 as Ben Rice Sparks Surge

Q: How did New England natives Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice become the biggest reason the Yankees suddenly own this Red Sox series?

Because two Massachusetts products have flipped the rivalry on its head for New York: Cam Schlittler has neutralized Boston’s lineup, and Ben Rice has punished Boston’s pitching. Schlittler, a Walpole native and Northeastern alum, has become the series’ tone-setter. In the Wild Card opener he threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowed only two hits and one walk, and struck out 10 on a career-high 117 pitches. That followed the pattern he has established against Boston: across six career starts against the Red Sox, including the postseason, he owns a microscopic 0.47 ERA. A year earlier, he had already ended Boston’s season with eight scoreless innings and 12 strikeouts in a decisive Wild Card game. Against this opponent, his high-90s fastball and curveball mix has consistently overpowered a lineup that entered October already mired in a deep slump. Rice, from Cohasset and drafted out of Dartmouth, supplied the damage Schlittler only needed in small doses. In Game 1 he went 4-for-5 with two homers, a grand slam, and six RBIs, tying the Yankees’ franchise record for RBIs in a postseason game. He also hit a solo shot earlier and added an RBI single as New York turned a tight game into a 9-0 rout. More broadly, Rice has become one of the Yankees’ most productive hitters this season, helping cover for injuries and giving the lineup a middle-order force. The result is strikingly symbolic: New England natives are now the biggest reason the Yankees control this Red Sox series.

3 articles · Updated · baseballprospectus.com · Sep 30

New York takes a 5-4 edge into AL Wild Card Game 2 after a Tuesday win that flipped the series mood and briefly made the Yankees look untouchable.
Ben Rice drove that swing, while the report also points to the league's best pitcher as the force behind New York's one-day aura of dominance.
Boston arrives after a season of extremes: the Red Sox were routed by 15 runs in two late-June losses to Washington, then ripped through a five-week stretch that ranked among baseball's best runs.
Game 2 is set for 8:00 p.m. ET with Boston starting Sonny Gray, 18-5 with a 2.72 ERA, against Yankees left-hander Max Fried, 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA.