Throwing Rice on Beantown -Yankees 9, Red Sox 0
About The Playoffs: Throwing Rice on Beantown -Yankees 9, Red Sox 0
by Tim Kabel
September 30, 2026
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The Yankees opened the Wild Card series last night with a total dismantling of the Red Sox. Behind the absolutely dominating pitching of Cam Schlittler and a tremendous offensive outburst, led by Ben Rice who had four hits, including two home runs, and drove in six runs, the Yankees drubbed the Red Sox 9-0.
Schlittler pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing just 2 hits, striking out 10, and walking 1. Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber closed the game out for the Yankees.
On the offensive side, the only starters who did not get a hit were Paul Goldschmidt, Heliot Ramos and Amed Rosario, Both Rosario and Ramos were removed early from the gate. Their replacements, Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham, respectively, did not get any hits either.
Austin Wells who is clearly turning the corner after an abysmal offensive regular season, had two hits and drove in two runs.
The Yankees outclassed Boston in every possible way in the game. They are now in a position where they only have to win one of the next two games. Boston must win both of them to win the series. The Yankees will have to see if they can dominate the Red Sox when Cam Schlittler is not pitching. Schlittler always pitches well against the Red Sox and seems to have a tremendous chip on his shoulder against them. That is a very good thing for him and for the Yankees.
Unfortunately, tonight's starting pitcher for the Red Sox, Sonny Gray, has a tremendous chip on his shoulder against the Yankees. Hopefully he does not do to the Yankees what Schlittler did to the Red Sox last night.
After last night's game, it would be very easy to believe that the Yankees have the series in the bag. I'm sure many people think that way. Unfortunately, things could go South for the Yankees very quickly. Max Fried has not been a tremendous postseason pitcher and he did have a truncated season, having been on the IL twice. Also, it is anticipated that the Yankees lineup will not be the same. Tonight, look for Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham, and Ryan McMahon to start.
It was very encouraging to see strong performances from the Yankees homegrown players, Schlittler, Rice, George Lombard, Jr., Spencer Jones, Austin Wells, and even Anthony Volpe, who played a solid game and received a nice ovation from the crowd.
We should savor last night's win but put it aside quickly because there will be another game tonight. As John Sterling always pointed out, “Baseball is different than every other sport, Suzyn. They change the starting pitcher every game”. That is not a knock on Max Fried. I am just saying that Cam Schlittler has owned the Red Sox in his young career.
A Few Tidbits:
· Ben Rice became the first player in Yankees history to have 4 hits and 6 RBI in a postseason game.
· In two postseason games against the Red Sox, Cam Schlittler has pitched 14.1 innings allowing no runs while striking out 22 and walking 1.
· Rice’s grand slam was the 16th Grand Slam in Yankees postseason history.
· Ben Rice's six RBI in a postseason game tied a franchise record.
· George Lombard, Jr.had three hits in his postseason debut.
· Schlittler threw 117 pitches which is the most by a Yankees postseason starter since CC Sabathia threw 121 in the 2012 division series against Baltimore.
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Tonight at 8:00 PM at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees will play the second and hopefully, final game of this series against the Red Sox. Max Fried will pitch for the Yankees against Sonny Gray for the Red Sox. Let's hope it is not a sunny day for Sonny, and that the Sonny comes out in the second inning.
Well, I predicted it would be a pitching duel, and it was, at least until it turned into a Burr/Hamilton-style duel.
I've always called tonight's SP the Fried/Warren game. Tge only thing I'm pretty sure about with Fried, is that runs will be hard to get off hom, but this year, is he the guy that will labor through 4 on something like 77 pitches, or is he gonna go 6.2 IP on 89 pitches. If Fried can only go 4 or 5, I do believe Warren will be the one to replace him. Now, if those two could go a combined 8 innings, that would be ideal.
It was real good to go through another game without Headrick in it. He looked like in September he was leaking, so some extra rest will do him good. Remember, only two reliever…
A Trip Down Memory Lane:
The Yankees won the 1956 World Series by beating the Dodgers in Game 7 by a 9-0 score. The Yankees were leading 5-0 when first baseman Bill Skowron hit a grand slam home run in the seventh inning to make the score 9-0. John Kucks pitched a 3-hit shutout for the Yankees.
I consider myself lucky to have lived in that time and even luckier to remeber it.
Broken record alert. Great pitching (obvious) but solid D, and only 4 Ks with 12 hits makes it very hard to beat. Tonight they need same approach against gray. Put constant pressure on them and eventually the D cracks or pitchers make mistakes. Its not rocket science. Also, Ramos is no 3 hitter. Hard to fathom that move.