ALWC 1: Yankees 9, Red Sox 0

 

Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  3 0

Yankees - 010 010 25x - 9 12 0

Almost exactly one year ago, on October 2, 2025, in the winner-take-all Game 3 of last year's ALWC series, Cam Schlittler pitched eight shutout innings against the Red Sox, striking out 12. The Yankees mugged Connelly Early in the fourth inning, winning the game with ease, 4-0.

Schlittler was also on the mound Tuesday night in New York, the next postseason game between these two rivals. Schlittler was equally untouchable (6.1-2-0-1-10, 117). He recorded 18 swings-and-misses . . . in the first four innings.

He and two relievers had absolutely no trouble rendering the Red Sox lineup completely impotent. Boston had a total of four baserunners, only one of which got past first base (and was left on second). Of the Red Sox's first 23 outs, only one left the infield.

The Yankees led 2-0 at the stretch and then hammered the back end of the Boston bullpen, scoring seven more runs in two innings. Ben Rice capped an outstanding night, hitting an grand slam in the eighth of Brayan Bello. Rice hit two home runs, a single and a double, scored twice and drove in six. He's the first MFY with multiple homers including a grand slam in a postseasion game.

OptaSTATS reports:

On Tuesday the Yankees' Ben Rice: hit multiple homers, hit a grand slam, had all of his team's XBH, outhit the entire opposing team. No one else in MLB history has done all of that in any game, regular season or postseason.

56 pitchers have made multiple postseason starts against the Red Sox. Schlittler joined Bob Gibson as the only two to have two games of 10+ strikeouts. Gibson fanned 10 Red Sox batters in Games 1 and 7 of the 1967 World Series.

Schlittler now has a 0.47 ERA in his first six career starts against the Red Sox (including postseason) , the lowest by a pitcher against Boston since ERA became an official stat in 1913. . . . His 117 pitches was a career high.

This was the entirety of the Red Sox's offense:

T1: Adley Rutschman singled with one out. Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu both struck out.

T5: Jarren Duran walked with two outs. Trevor Story flied to center.

T7: Abreu singled to right-center (Schlittler's last batter). Ceddanne Rafaela GIDP.

T8: Story doubled with two outs. Caleb Durbin flied to center.

Reached Base Safely

Ben Rice: 4 times in 5 plate appearances

Red Sox: 4 times in 30 plate appearances

September 29, 2026 was the first day in postseason history with two shutouts of 8+ runs. The Padres dismissed the the Cubs 8-0.

The Red Sox are in danger of exiting this postseason without leaving any evidence they were here at all.

Red Sox -  
Yankees -  

G1: Payton Tolle / Cam Schlittler

G2: Sonny Gray / Max Fried

G3: Ranger Suarez / Gerrit Cole

Best-of-3. The winner of the series will play the Rays in the ALDS.

The Red Sox have been in a hitting/scoring slump for most of this month. In 17 games since September 8, they've scored only 42 runs (2.47 runs per game) while going 7-10. In their last eight games, the red Sox have scored more than two runs only once (1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 4, 2, 2). . . . Boston went 6-7 against New York this season. The most runs they scored off the MFY in a game was six, which they did three times.

But all that is old news. It's time to bring the bats because . . .  IT IS ON!

Red Sox & Yankees Will Meet In ALWC On Tuesday

The Red Sox and Yankees are expected to meet in one of the two American League Wild Card series next Tuesday. Boston can grab the AL's #5 seed with a win tonight. The series will be a best-of-3, with all of the games in the Bronx. . . . Will the Red Sox ring in YED 2026 on September 30 or October 1?

The Red Sox are in the postseason thanks to a historic 30-game stretch in which they went 27-3 (.900), a stretch that stands in stark contrast to the 58-70 record (.453) in games before and after that period.

0326-0701:  37-48 .435
0702-0807:  27- 3 .900
0808-0923:  21-22 .488
            85-73 .538  (4 games remaining)

Lefty Garrett Crochet (2025 AL Cy Young runner-up) hasn't pitched in a game since April 25, because of left shoulder inflammation. On Tuesday, he threw 16 pitches of batting practice, hitting 96 mph.

I would say the way that live just went, that I could go get outs. It depends obviously what role they want me in. . . . I know myself, and I know my body, and the biggest thing was that I felt good out there. Felt like I was able to ramp up intensity to a place that I haven't gone yet.

Ian Browne reports that Aroldis Chapman is back after missing about two weeks with a lat issue. "I'm happy to be back. . . . I feel like I'm at 100 percent right now." Manager Chad Tracy expects to have his set-up-closing trio of Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock and Chapman for the ALWC.

Tracy's starters for this week's series against Cleveland were Payton Tolle, Sonny Gray, and Ranger Suarez, but he has not yet confirmed that would be the order against the Yankees. . . . Gray's 2.72 ERA is 8th in MLB, 5th in the AL. Tolle (3.03) and Suarez (3.23) are not too far behind in ERA.

The Red Sox went 6-7 against the Yankees this season. Boston's four-game sweep at Fenway (June 25-28) was a bit of a prelude to their 27-3 run.

In 2021, the Red Sox beat the Yankees 6-2 in the Wild Card Game. In the 2025 ALWC, the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-3 and 4-0 after Boston won the first game 3-1.

Will perennial IL-lodger and postseason whiff-machine* A-A-Ron Judge play in the series? Judge (right calf strain) said he'll be ready to play ("that's what the plan is"), but his manager said the exact opposite. "We're planning on him not being a part of [the ALWC]." . . . Craig Calcaterra reports that this is "the third or fourth time since Judge came off of his long IL stint this season that he's either contradicted what someone on his team said or otherwise did not go along with the expected flow of ballplayer communications".

*: If strikeouts were hits, Judge would have a .370 postseason batting average (91-for-246). . . . His actual average, in 65 career post-season games, is an unimpressive .236 (58-for-246).

Red Sox Wallop Athletics 13-1 – Now 27-3 In Last 30 Games

Payton Tolle struck out 14 Athletics in six innings on Friday night, the most strikeouts by a Boston pitcher at age 23 or younger since Fat Billy From Ohio fanned 20 Mariners on April 29, 1986, as the Red Sox walloped the Athletics 13-1. Tolle had a career-high 24 swings-and-misses.

Boston is 27-3 over the last 30 games.

Tolle struck out the side in the second, fourth, and sixth innings (231 323). He allowed a leadoff homer in the fifth and an infield single to start the sixth. The Athletics hit only three of Tolle's 84 pitches out of the infield – and only one of Raymond Burgos's 34 pitches in relief.

Some context on the Red Sox's white-hot streak:

Sarah Langs (and Elias): 

The Red Sox are the 10th team since 1900 to enjoy a 27-3 run – and only the third team in the last 73 years. The 1977 Royals and 2017 Clevelands are the others.

The Red Sox began this 27-3 run with a 37-48 record. They are the first team in major league history to win at least 27 games in a 30-game span while entering that span 10+ games under .500. (Only two other teams began a similar 30-game stretch with a record below .500: the 1916 Giants (three games under) and the 1887 St. Louis Browns (one game under).

On June 25, Boston was 32-46. Now they are 64-51. The Red Sox are the fastest team in major league history to go from 14 games under .500 to 13 games over: 44 days, according to Elias. The previous quickest was accomplished 112 years ago by a different Boston team: 59 days, by the 1914 "Miracle" Braves.

The Red Sox began July at 37-47. They ended the month at 58-51. They are the first team in major league history to enter a calendar month 10+ games under .500 and leave that month at least seven games over .500, per Elias. (In fact, only two teams had entered a month 10+ games under and ended the month two games over: Giants (July 2019) and Red Sox (August 1996).

Boston's 21-4 (.840) record in July is the highest winning percentage in a calendar month in franchise history (min. 15 games).

OptaSTATS:

In July the @RedSox:
won 20+ games

had a 15+ game winning streak

had 10+ comeback wins

swept a 9+ game road trip

had a .900+ road win pct
No other team in MLB history has done all of that in a single month.

The Red Sox have won 19 consecutive games against teams from the three largest metro areas in the United States (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago). That's the longest winning streak by any team against opponents from those three metro areas in major league history. . . . The previous record for longest winning streak against foes from the NY/LA/Chicago metro areas was 17 by the 1915 St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League (6 vs. Brooklyn Tip-Tops, 6 vs. Newark Peppers, 5 vs. Chicago Whales).

Payton Tolle is the only MLB pitcher to throw fewer than 85 pitches and have 14+ strikeouts (since pitches were first tracked in 1988).

Lowest ratio of pitches to strikeouts in a major league game (since 1988, min. 75 pitches):
1 K every 5.95 pitches - Max Scherzer, Nationals (9-6-2-0-20, 119) against Tigers, May 11, 2016
1 K every 6.00 pitches - Payton Tolle, Red Sox (6-2-1-0-14, 84) against Athletics August 7, 2026
1 K every 6.10 pitches - Kerry Wood, Cubs (9-1-0-0-20, 122) against Astros, May 6, 1998

P.S.: It's nuts that it took until 1988 for major league baseball to keep track of pitches on any sort of organized basis. That was the National League's 113th season. MLB also waited until 1984 to make on-base percentage, which measures a batter's most essential task (not making an out), an official stat.

"Biologically Incapable Of Losing": Unstoppable Red Sox Are 26-3 and 31-5 After Astonishing 13-Inning Walkoff; Postseason Odds Up From 9% to 97%

Since the Red Sox lost to the Rockies way back on June 24, the team has won 31 of 36 games, a streak that includes a franchise-tying 15-game winning streak. It is the best 36-game stretch in team history.

Boston is 17-0 against first-place teams in that span, and is the first team to record six sweeps of first-place teams in one season since divisional play began in 1969 – and they accomplished that feat over only six weeks.

June 25-28:       Swept 4 games from first-place Yankees
July 7-9:         Swept 3 games from first-place White Sox
July 17-19:       Swept 4 games from first-place Rays
July 31-August 2: Swept 3 games from first-place Dodgers
August 4-6:       Swept 3 games from first-place White Sox

The Red Sox have won nine straight series, the second-longest streak in team history; the 1912 team won 11 consecutive series from August 4 to September 15, 1912.

Boston has won its last 28 games in which they score at least four runs. And the Red Sox have won 26 of their last 29 games, something only three other teams have accomplished in the last 73 seasons (1977 Royals, 2002 Athletics, 2017 Clevelands).

Boston's record stands at 63-51; they are five games behind Tampa Bay and a mere half-game behind the Yankees. While Boston has gone 31-5, the Rays have gone 24-15 (third best in MLB). A 63-51 record would easily lead both the AL Central (by four games) and AL West (by five games).

After games of June  24: 1st Yankees (48-31), 15.5 GA of 5th Red Sox (32-46)
After games of August 6: 2nd Yankees (64-51),  0.5 GA of 3rd Red Sox (63-51)

Since June 24, the Red Sox are fifth in MLB in on-base percentage, fourth in slugging percentage and third in runs scored. Before their hot streak started, they were projected to have a 9% chance of making the postseason. Those odds now stand at 96.1%, with a 15.3% chance of winning the pennant and a 7% chance of winning the World Series.

J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) states: "The Red Sox are the 26th team in the World Series Era (1903-present) to go 30-5 or better in a 35-game stretch. Each of the other 25 made the Postseason (10 of them won the World Series)."

Boston's 12-11 victory last night at Fenway (against the AL-Central leading White Sox) was the most impressive victory in [fill in the blank] years:

Chicago White Sox – 004 120 000 211 0 – 11 13  1
Boston Red Sox    – 002 301 001 211 1 – 12 16  2

I've loved looking at linescores for all sorts of oddities for nearly a half-century, and it fuckin kills me  that I can no longer enjoy extra-inning linescores because Commissioner Asshole Motherfucker decided that one of the most foundational rules of the game should suddenly change – for no meaningful or logical reason and no observable or measurable benefit – if there is a tenth (or later) inning. It means I can't fully enjoy the Red Sox's linescore above, or this minor league game from roughly a month ago (July 4):

Great Lakes - 000 300 020 121 21 - 12 17  3
Fort Wayne  - 120 000 000 121 22 - 13 15  1

If this had happened when all innings were created equal, it would be mind-blowing. Instead, it's a cute curiosity.

The quote in the post title comes from Reddit: "This team is biologically incapable of losing. I have no idea what happened to them."

Meanwhile, in MFY-land:

Schadenfreude 372 (A Continuing Series)

 

June 25-28
Red Sox 6, Yankees 3
Red Sox 6, Yankees 1
Red Sox 4, Yankees 1
Red Sox 5, Yankees 4 (10)

Yankees – 100 100 100   – 3  8  4
Red Sox – 000 040 02x   – 6  7  0

Yankees – 000 000 010   – 1  3  0
Red Sox – 121 001 01x   – 6  9  0

Yankees – 000 010 000   – 1  3  0
Red Sox – 112 000 00x   – 4  7  0

Yankees – 000 000 002 2 – 4  3  1
Red Sox – 000 200 000 3 – 5  6  2

"wheeeeee!"

More Langs:

Sonny Gray with a 7 1/3 IP no-hit bid vs the Yankees 
He’s the first former Yankees pitcher with a no-hit bid of at least 7 innings against the Yankees since 6/30/57 Ralph Terry (7 1/3 IP)

Most consecutive quality starts, Red Sox since ER official (1913):

1988: 14
1917: 13
1915: 12
1914: 12
2026: 11 *active
1933: 11

1917: 11

2:21 [Friday]

2:22 [Saturday]

This is the first time consecutive Yankees-Red Sox games have been 2 hours, 22 minutes or shorter since they played three straight Sept. 27-29, 1983

Since earned runs became an official stat in 1913, this is the first time the Red Sox have swept the Yankees in a series of 4+ games in which Boston pitchers recorded a quality start in every game.

                      IP  H ER BB  K  PIT
Thu: Connelly Early: 6.0  5  2  1  9   98
Fri: Payton Tolle:   7.0  1  0  2  7   88
Sat: Jake Bennett:   6.1  3  1  2  3   87
Sun: Sonny Gray:     7.1  1  0  1  9   97
                    26.2 10  3  6 28   1.01 ERA

Bottom of the 10th

Sunday

Yankees Swept By Red Sox After Blowing Lead In Extras As Rally Goes For Naught In Brutal Loss
Greg Joyce, Post

A late rally gave the Yankees a chance to finish a brutal weekend on a high note.

Instead, somehow, it only delayed the misery.

On a night when Sonny Gray took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, Aroldis Chapman and the Red Sox defense melted down in the ninth inning, and the Yankees took the lead in the 10th, it still all came crumbling down for them . . . to deliver one last knockout punch on the way back to New York.

After the Yankees took their first lead since Thursday night with two runs in the top of the 10th, [Boston] came back to win it in the bottom of the frame against Fernando Cruz, as Jarren Duran's walk-off single lifted them to a 5-4 win that finished off a four-game sweep Sunday night at Fenway Park. . . .

[MFY manager Aaron Boone:] "It's one of those crap moments of the season, crap times of the season . . ."

On a weekend in which they were dominated by Red Sox starting pitching — Connelly Early, Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett and Gray combined for 26.2 innings in which they gave up just three runs, 10 hits and six walks while striking out 28 — the Yankees have now dropped eight of their past 11 after suffering their first four-game sweep to their archrivals since 2018.

The Red Sox had not won four straight games all season until this series. . . .

A month that began with the Yankees losing Aaron Judge to the injured list (his timeline for a return is still very fuzzy) is nearing an end with the club looking like it is feeling the effects . . . along with [the absences of] Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham. . . .

The Yankees[' bats] . . . have all gone cold at the same time, resulting in a four-game sweep in which the Yankees combined to hit just 17-for-128 (.133) with 10 walks. . . .

The night had begun like the last few before it, with Gray mowing down the Yankees.

Tolle had retired the first 16 Yankees on Friday night before Bennett carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning Saturday. Gray took flirting with history a step further before another former disgruntled Yankee, Chapman, flushed it in the ninth.

But even after the Yankees rallied and went ahead in the 10th . . . Cruz could not finish it off in the bottom of the inning.

He left pitches up that turned into a single, double, sacrifice fly and then Duran's walk-off winner.

"Great teams go through this," Cruz said. 

[Shitty teams go through it, too.]

Oswaldo Cabrera's First Game Back Since Gruesome Ankle Injury Comes With A Costly Yankees Error
Greg Joyce, Post

For the first time since a gruesome ankle injury last May, Oswaldo Cabrera was back in a big league lineup Sunday night.

It did not go as well as he had hoped, though, with a crucial fielding error giving way to a pair of runs early on the way to the Yankees' crushing 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Cabrera went 0-for-3 . . . But his fielding error at third base loomed large in the fourth inning.

With a runner on first and one out in a scoreless game, Carlos Rodón got Willson Contreras to hit a hard grounder to third. Cabrera bobbled it and by the time he threw over to first, it was too late.

One out later, the Yankees should have been out of the inning, but instead Caleb Durbin came up next and hit a two-run single in what became a 37-pitch inning for Rodón, a big reason why he only lasted five innings.

The Yankees defense had let them down Thursday night, committing four errors, and then came back to bite them again Sunday. . . .

Thursday

Yankees Unravel In Fifth Inning In Sloppy Series-Opening Loss To Red Sox
Greg Joyce, Post

Cam Schlittler played with fire for four innings and got away with it.

But then in the fifth, his defense added some lighter fluid, and his start went up in flames.

After Amed Rosario let a smoked ground ball go through his legs instead of turning a potential inning-ending double play, the first of four unearned runs came in on Schlittler to sink the Yankees in a sloppy 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday night . . .

Former Yankees prospect Caleb Durbin delivered the deciding blow before the fifth inning was over, taking Schlittler deep for a two-run shot just over the Green Monster to break a 2-2 tie.

The Yankees tried to mount a comeback in the ninth against their former closer, Aroldis Chapman, who loaded the bases with two outs before finally shutting the door.

It was a messy loss for the Yankees, who committed a season-high four errors . . . and wasted some chances to cash in offensively before the scuffling Red Sox came alive. . . .

The offense . . . [went] 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position — including Ben Rice, the Yankees' best hitter, going 0-for-4 in those situations and leaving seven men on base.

Schlittler stranded a pair of runners in each of the first, second and fourth innings. He might have been able to do it again in the fifth, until Rosario's fielding error opened the floodgates. . . .

Yankees' Defense Falls Apart In Tough Loss To Red Sox: 'Didn't Do A Good Job'

Dan Martin, Post

. . . the season-high four errors they made in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park were especially tough. 

And even as they made the most errors in a game since the four they committed in a loss to Boston at Yankee Stadium last Aug. 21, there were even more miscues than the ones that made the stat sheet. . . .

Among the culprits was José Caballero, whose defensive versatility is part of what the Yankees were looking for when they acquired him from Tampa Bay last season. 

But they probably didn't foresee him starting in left field five times over an eight-game period as he's been forced to with Judge and Trent Grisham sidelined. . . . [H]is errant throw on Jarren Duran's very shallow fly ball [in the fifth] allowed Ceddanne Rafaela to score and helped Boston take control of the game. 

The fact that Rafaela even tried to score on the play indicated what the Red Sox thought of Caballero in left. . . .

Ball goes right under Amed Rosario's glove and the Red Sox score pic.twitter.com/WpfNGlZdiD

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 26, 2026

As for his throw home, which took Austin Wells away from the plate, Caballero said, "I put good velo on it. It was just a little off the line. And mistakes happen." . . .

[Thirs baseman Amed] Rosario let Willson Contreras' rocket 112 mph grounder go through his legs for a two-base error in the fifth . . . 

Wells was charged with an error on a catcher's interference that wiped away a groundout by Abreu in the first. Schlittler threw a pickoff attempt at second base that went into center field for an error, and the right-hander also watched Caleb Durbin's pop-up drop in front of him for an infield single in the second. Yerry De los Santos made the fourth error of the night in the eighth. 

Friday

 

Yankees' Bats Silenced In Loss To Red Sox As Payton Tolle Flirts With Perfect Game
Greg Joyce, Post

The Yankees at least spared themselves the infamy of having a perfect game thrown against them [on Friday]. . . .

Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle dominated them across seven innings, allowing just one hit to Spencer Jones after retiring 16 straight to start the game, as the Yankees stumbled to a second straight loss by a score of 6-1. . . .

Tolle, who struck out 11 in six innings of one-run ball against the Yankees in April, was even more untouchable on Friday night while striking out seven. Jones poked a single into center field off him with one out in the sixth, and Tolle later walked a pair in the seventh. But all three base runners proved harmless as he mowed down the Yankees, who have now lost six of their past nine. . . .

Besides Tolle vying for a perfect game, the only real drama — if you can call it that — of the night came in the bottom of the fifth inning, when the benches cleared after Will Warren walked Willson Contreras. Ball four was up and in on Contreras, who essentially stands on top of the plate, and he flipped his bat before jogging down to first and jawing at Warren. 

Contreras, who had crushed a 418-foot homer off Warren earlier in the game, seemed to want to know why the Yankees pitcher was looking at him. . . .

That only added to the frustration for Warren, who gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks across 5.2 innings. For the first time in his career, he did not record a single strikeout. Warren was consistently hit hard even on outs, as 10 of the 24 balls the Red Sox put in play against him came off the bat at 95 mph or higher. 

Yankees, Red Sox Clear Benches In Tense Rivalry Scene

Dan Martin, Post

What's become a mostly docile matchup in the AL East got some heat in the bottom of the fifth of a 6-1 Red Sox win, when Willson Contreras jawed at Will Warren as he headed to first base following a walk. 

Warren, whose second pitch of the at-bat was up and in to Contreras — clearly crowding the plate — said some words back to Contreras and the benches cleared. 

After Contreras homered and had an RBI single off Warren earlier in the game, Contreras flipped his bat after Warren walked him on a 3-2 pitch that was close to Contreras' elbow. 

Contreras continued to shout at the right-hander once he got to the bag, with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt looking to calm the situation. 

Warren clearly wasn't pleased with Contreras' behavior at the plate, saying the slugger was "playing games in the [batters'] box." 

Aaron Boone said it's what Contreras is known for. 

"I think that's what he does a lot,'' the manager said. "His arms hang over the plate, so I don't know where we're supposed to go [with pitches]. I think there's probably a method to what he's doing. He probably wants that. . . ."

Contreras was a menace to the Yankees all night, as he singled in a run in the first and homered to left in the third before the walk. 

The Yankees, losers of six of nine, have bigger concerns than any antics by Contreras as they try to right themselves . . .

Saturday

Yankees' Bats Go Quietly Again, Gerrit Cole Struggles In Third Straight Loss To Red Sox
Greg Joyce, Post

Contrary to popular belief, those were not toothpicks the Yankees were swinging Saturday. 

But they essentially would have served the same purpose as the lumber they did use, which has been ineffective the past few days. 

Once again, the Yankees got shut down by a lefty, with their bats going silent and offensive woes growing louder in a third straight loss to the last-place Red Sox, this time 4-1 on a fine afternoon at a sold-out Fenway Park. 

For a second straight game, Jake Bennett and the Red Sox bullpen held the Yankees to just three hits while Gerrit Cole got hit around, resulting in their seventh loss in the past 10 games. . . .

[New York] suddenly looks like it dearly misses Aaron Judge, not to mention Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham, who are also on the injured list. Grisham should return within the week, but Judge and Stanton do not appear anywhere close to coming back . . . 

Cole got hit hard for a second straight start, giving up four runs on seven hits, including a pair of solo home runs to Masataka Yoshida (to lead off the bottom of the first) and former Yankees first-round pick Anthony Seigler (in the bottom of the second). 

But the bigger culprit was the offense. After Tolle took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Yankees on Friday night, Bennett had a no-hitter into the fifth Saturday . . . 

Over the first three games of this four-game set, the Yankees have gone just 14-for-94 (.149) with eight walks. 

Some of their most dependable batters have contributed to the recent malaise. Ben Rice went 0-for-4 Saturday and is now 2-for-23 over his past six games. Bellinger went 1-for-2 with two walks, improving him to 2-for-19 over his past six games. Amed Rosario, who had been a reliable lefty killer early on, is now 7-for-42 over his past 15 games. . . .

Ben Rice's Ugly Stretch Hits Low Point In Loss To Red Sox: 'He's Grinding A Little Bit'

Greg Joyce, Post

Ben Rice has spent most of the season looking like an MVP candidate. 

But the past six games have been much more pedestrian, magnified by the rest of the Yankees offense going through a cold stretch with him. . . .

He is batting just 2-for-23 with a .174 OPS over his past six games, of which the Yankees have lost four. . . .

To be clear, Rice is far from alone in having a rough week. But it is noticeable because of how impactful he has been for most of the season — he finished Saturday batting .276 with a .940 OPS — with this marking the quietest stretch of his season so far. 

It comes during a week in which the Yankees have faced a heavy dose of lefty starters — including each of the past four games, with Red Sox southpaw Jake Bennett holding him down Saturday. . . .

In a bit of an oddity, Rice grounded out in eight straight plate appearances before striking out in his final at-bat Saturday. 

There's still no timetable for the Yankees to get their two biggest bats back from the injured list in Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton . . . 

More 2026 Predictions and Projections (mlb.com, ESPN, SI, The Athletic, CBS Sports, FanGraphs)

Here are some more incorrect 2026 predictions . . .

MLB.com Picks

[Why can't they give the # of votes each team received, like ESPN does? I mean, they're counting the  fuckin votes, anyway.]

AL East: Blue Jays

AL East baseball will not be for the faint of heart this year; it has the look of the most competitive division in the Majors. But ultimately, our voters expect Toronto to hang on to its division crown following its worst-to-first turnaround in 2025. . . . Others receiving votes: Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles

AL Central: Tigers
The 2025 season was still a pretty successful one for the Tigers, even after they squandered a 6.5-game lead in the AL Central over the regular season's final two weeks and limped into the playoffs as a Wild Card. . . . Others receiving votes: Royals

AL West: Mariners
Is it finally Seattle's time? The Mariners were nine outs away from their first pennant last season before everything went awry in ALCS Game 7 against the Blue Jays. But this might be the best roster they have fielded since their record-setting 2001 team, which won 116 games. . . . Others receiving votes: Astros, Rangers and Athletics

AL Wild Cards: Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles
Red Sox: Even though the Red Sox lost Alex Bregman via free agency, the inclusion of first baseman Willson Contreras and a full season of burgeoning star Roman Anthony could make this lineup more threatening than it was for much of last season's second half. Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran make up one of the sport's best -- albeit crowded -- outfield groups. Boston's most noteworthy offseason moves were focused on the mound, however, as it stabilized the rotation behind AL Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet by trading for Sonny Gray and signing Ranger Suarez to a five-year contract. . . .

AL Champion: Mariners
The Mariners finally get over the hump and win the American League for the first time in franchise history, according to our voters. Seattle received more than twice as many votes as any other club to be the champions of the Junior Circuit. Others receiving votes: Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers, Red Sox, Orioles and Rangers

NL East: Mets
Few teams experienced more roster turnover this offseason than the Mets. Change was needed in Queens after a three-month tailspin ended with the club missing the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. . . . Others receiving votes: Phillies, Braves and Marlins

NL Central: Cubs
The Cubs re-established themselves as legitimate contenders last season, snapping a four-year playoff drought and winning the franchise's first postseason series since 2017. The next challenge? Dethroning the Brewers, who have won three consecutive NL Central titles and sent Chicago home in last year's NLDS. Others receiving votes: Brewers and Pirates

NL West: Dodgers
This one shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The back-to-back defending champions have won 12 of the last 13 NL West titles, only failing to do so in 2021 -- even though they still won 106 games. With an admirable combination of depth and star power, the Dodgers are well-suited to overcome any obstacle in their path . . . Shohei Ohtani is returning to being a full-time two-way player, and the four-time MVP expects to be in the Cy Young conversation.

NL Wild Cards: Phillies, Padres, Brewers

NL Champion: Dodgers
According to FanGraphs, the Dodgers are projected to win 96 games this season. The next closest team in the National League is projected for 88 wins. 

World Series Champion: Dodgers
If they win another championship, the Dodgers will be just the fifth team to claim three titles in a row. . . .  Others receiving votes: Mariners, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Phillies, Tigers and Rangers

ESPN

AL East: Yankees (16 votes), Blue Jays (8), Red Sox (6)

Despite the Blue Jays being the reigning AL champs, our voters favored the Yankees to win the division. What made New York the pick? . . . New York overhauled its roster over the course of last season, punctuated by a busy trade deadline. . . . The floor for this Yankees team is higher over 162 games as long as three-time MVP Aaron Judge stays healthy. . . . As for the Blue Jays, they had themselves a very busy offseason, adding Dylan Cease among others, but injuries to the rotation have already surfaced and Bo Bichette's departure is significant. . . .

The Red Sox shook off the Rafael Devers mini controversy and righted the ship last season to the tune of 89 wins. There's no reason they can't take the next step, possessing a well-rounded roster that also includes a really good top of the rotation in Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray. Not to mention Boston gets a full year of Roman Anthony. It's a sneaky good lineup behind him. The sum will be better than the parts for the Red Sox -- and the parts aren't shabby.

AL Central: Tigers (23 votes), Royals (6), Guardians (1)

AL West: Mariners (25 votes), Astros (3), Texas (1), Athletics (1)

AL Wild Cards: Blue Jays (21), Red Sox (19), Yankees (14)
Royals (10), Orioles (7), Astros (5), Mariners (5), Tigers (4), Texas (3), Athletics (1), Guardians (1)

Our voters view the three most likely wild-card teams to all be AL East teams. What does that say about the state of that division? It's the best division in baseball -- and largely has been this decade, with four different division winners in the past five seasons (only the Red Sox haven't won) and all five teams having playoff hopes. . . . 

AL Champion: Mariners (15), Red Sox (6), Tigers (5), Yankees (3), Blue Jays (1)

NL East: Mets (16 votes), Phillies (13), Atlanta (1)

NL Central: Cubs (27 votes), Brewers (3)

NL West: Dodgers (29 votes), Padres (1)

NL Wild Cards: Brewers (18 votes), Phillies (17), Atlanta (14)
Mets (13), Pirates (11), Padres (8), Reds (2), Giants (2), Marlins (2), Cubs (1), Diamondbacks (1), Dodgers (1)

NL Champion: Dodgers (27 votes), Phillies (2), Mets (1)

World Series Champion: Dodgers (14 votes), Mariners (6), Red Sox (3), Tigers (2), Yankees (2), Phillies (1), Mets (1), Blue Jays (1)

AL MVP: Aaron Judge (11 votes), Bobby Witt Jr. (10), Roman Anthony (3), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3), Cal Raleigh (1), Junior Caminero (1), Julio Rodriguez (1)

AL Cy Young: Tarik Skubal (14 votes), Garrett Crochet (11), Hunter Brown (3), Framber Valdez (1), Max Fried (1)

AL Rookie of the Year: Kevin McGonigle (12 votes), Munetaka Murakami (5), Carter Jensen (4), Kazuma Okamoto (4), Trey Yesavage (2), Samuel Basallo (2), Tatsuya Imai (1)

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (21 votes), Juan Soto (6), Ronald Acuña Jr. (2), Bryce Harper (1)

Ohtani would tie the record for most consecutive MVP awards -- four, held by Barry Bonds -- with another MVP win this season. Can anyone stop him from making more history? With Ohtani gearing up for a full season of pitching, it might be impossible, but let's throw out three players who could challenge him -- two of which were MVP picks by some of our voters. Acuña had an 8.4-WAR season when he won his MVP award in 2023. If he does that, he'll be in the vicinity of Ohtani (who had 7.8 WAR last year). Soto had a career high 7.9 WAR with the Yankees in 2024. If he's the best hitter in the league, he'll have a shot. And how about Paul Skenes? If he can get some run support and lead the Pirates to the playoffs, you never know.

NL Cy Young: Paul Skenes (23 votes), Cristopher Sanchez (4), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3)

NL Rookie of the Year: Nolan McLean (11 votes), JJ Wetherholt (7), Konnor Griffin (6), Sal Stewart (4), Bubba Chandler (1), Justin Crawford (1)

Sports Illustrated

Red Sox: After a three-year playoff drought (tied for their longest in three decades), the resurgent Red Sox captured a wild card last season. Boston will now rely on a retooled rotation behind ace Garrett Crochet and a young offense that scored the seventh-most runs in the majors last year. 

AL East

Blue Jays   95–67*
Orioles     91–71*
Red Sox     87–75*
Yankees     86–76*
Rays        73–89
*: postseason team

Red Sox: Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow seems to have the Red Sox on the right track. The veteran arms they've added greatly enhance their chances of advancing in the playoffs, and Alex Cora is one of just four active MLB managers with a World Series title.

Yankees: Fans are running out of patience with GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone. Cashman has won four World Series with the Yankees, but none since 2009 despite vast resources. New York has MLB’s third-largest payroll but little depth.

AL MVP: Julio Rodriguez, Mariners

AL Cy Young: Garrett Crochet, Red Sox

AL Rookie of the Year: Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays

AL Manager of the Year: Craig Albernaz, Orioles

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

NL Cy Young: Paul Skenes, Pirates
NL Rookie of the Year: JJ Wetherholt, Cardinals

NL Manager of the Year: Tony Vitello, Giants

Postseason Predictions

AL Wild Card
Tigers over Yankees in 3  /  Red Sox over Orioles in 3

AL Division Series

Mariners over Tigers in 4  /  Red Sox over Blue Jays in 5

AL Championship Series

Mariners over Red Sox in 6

NL Wild Card

Mets over Giants in 3  /  Phillies over Brewers in 2

NL Division Series

Cubs over Mets in 5  /  Dodgers over Phillies in 4

NL Championship Series

Dodgers over Cubs in 5

World Series

Dodgers over Mariners in 6

The Athletic

Keith Law:

It's an annual tradition: My column explaining why I think your favorite team isn't going to win as many games as you think they are.

These predictions are for fun, not a demonstration of my deep-seated loathing for your favorite team, and not the product of a sophisticated machine-learning algorithm to produce impeccable forecasts. I make it all up, and then I talk about it. (I do, however, rely on FanGraphs' projections as a starting point for several things here, especially some individual player projections, and this piece would be far harder without them.)

I've done this for 15+ years now, and the reactions are always the same — people look for what I said about their favorite teams and then yell at me about it. I got two division winners right last year, counting the Dodgers (who shouldn't even count as getting it 'right'), and a team I picked to finish last ended up two outs away from a championship. I did get the NL Cy Young Award winner right, at least, but that’s not a whole lot to write home about.

American League East: The Yankees lead baseball's most competitive division

Yankees     91-71
Orioles     88-74
Red Sox     87-75
Blue Jays   85-77
Rays        75-87

The Yankees led the American League in runs scored by a wide margin last year, and I expect them to lead the league again, although they are so dependent on Aaron Judge that even a modest injury to the soon-to-be 34-year-old MVP could have a dramatic impact on their fortunes. . . . The rotation is in decent shape to start the year, but it'll get better when Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole return later this spring from their elbow surgeries . . .

The Red Sox were aggressive this winter, adding three starting pitchers, a first baseman and another infielder, although it looks like the Red Sox agreed that Johan Oviedo wasn't actually an upgrade over Connolly Early, and I hate that they're moving Marcelo Mayer out of position in deference to Trevor Story's dead-cat bounce year. There's still a lot of upside across this roster, though, enough that I think they can overcome some of this roster churn and end up with 90+ wins in many scenarios. . . .

The Rays are dancing on the edge of disaster with their roster, with several starters I do not trust to throw 120 innings this year, a left fielder who has less power than a dead AirTag battery, a second baseman who can't seem to field, a center fielder who can't throw or get on base and I dare you to name either catcher on their 40-man roster. They have three good hitters, and their pitchers throw a lot of strikes. . . .  [LOL]

AL Central: Tigers, by 5 games over Royals, Guardians, Twins, White Sox

AL West: Mariners, by 9 games over Astros, Texas, Athletics, Angels

NL East: Mets, by 4 games over Phillies, Atlanta, Marlins, Nationals

NL Central: Cubs, by 2 games over Pirates, Brewers, Reds, Cardinals

NL West: Dodgers, by 15 games over Giants, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies

CBS Sports

Four of five writers (Mike Axisa, Kate Feldman, Dayn Perry, Matt Snyder) pick Garrett Crochet for Cy Young winner. Alex Cora gets one pick (Perry) as Manager of the Year.

Feldman: I think Tarik Skubal will out-pitch Garrett Crochet but I also think Skubal will be traded at the deadline -- to a National League team (let's call it the Mets) so he'll be ineligible.

Snyder: Crochet can topple Skubal for the Cy too, and he wasn't far off last year. 

FanGraphs

Projected Standings

            W-L   RS/G  RA/G   DIFF
Yankees    87-75  4.72  4.34  +0.38
Red Sox    86-76  4.55  4.27  +0.28
Blue Jays  86-76  4.64  4.36  +0.28
Orioles    84-78  4.83  4.61  +0.22
Rays       81-81  4.32  4.30  +0.02

Playoff Odds

             W     L
Yankees    86.6  75.4
Red Sox    84.8  77.2
Blue Jays  84.7  77.3
Orioles    83.5  78.5
Rays       79.8  82.2

Over 162 games, FanGraphs projects only a razor-thin margin of 1.9 wins to separate the top three teams and 3.1 wins to separate the top four teams. . . . 

Every Game Counts.

2026 Red Sox W-L Contest Entries

Here are the entries for this year's W-L contest:

               W-L   TEAM ERA
Paul H.       95-67     3.57
Benjamin B.   95-67     3.66
Rich G.       93-69     3.57
Jacob L.      92-70     3.43
Brett H.      92-70     3.45
Allan W.      92-70     3.75
Jeff M.       91-71     3.70
Eddie N.      90-72     3.69
Dave I.       90-72     3.90
Warren S.     90-72     4.50
Michael G.    87-75     3.62

There has almost always been a decent amount of optimism when it comes to the predictions. I note, however, that the Red Sox have not won 90+ games since 2021 (when they went 92-70 and lost the ALCS (2-4) to Houston), having secured 78, 78, 81, and 89 victories in the subsequent seasons.

The ERA guesses are all pretty similar, within 45 points of each other (eight of the 11 entries are within 27 points (3.43-3.70). I was curious how Boston had ranked ERA-wise since the pandemic season. Huge improvement since 2023.

Red Sox ERA, 2021-25

         ERA    AL    MLB
2021    4.26     7     15
2022    4.53    14     25
2023    4.52    11     21
2024    4.04     9     17
2025    3.70     2*     4*
*: tied