NEW YORK — The Yankees entered Sunday needing one win to settle their season series with Boston and strengthen their grip on the American League’s top wild-card position. By the time the afternoon ended, the scoreboard had become secondary to how much history New York packed into the final three innings.
The Yankees beat the Red Sox 16-1 at Yankee Stadium, taking the season series 7-6 and securing the head-to-head tiebreaker. New York improved to 78-59, moved four games ahead of Boston for the top AL wild-card spot and won for the 10th time in 14 games. Tampa Bay remained 4 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East.
The game turned in the fifth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a sinking liner to center that Ceddanne Rafaela tried to catch on a dive. The ball was ruled trapped, and Boston’s challenge failed to overturn the call. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a two-run single, and Heliot Ramos hit a three-run homer to complete a five-run inning.
Will Warren carried the pitching staff from there. The right-hander allowed one run on six hits in seven-plus innings, struck out seven and improved to 9-6. Ranger Suarez took the loss after giving up six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. There was no save in the 15-run victory.
New York also kept pressure on Boston before the score became lopsided. Chisholm made a leaping throw from second base to retire Jarren Duran in the second inning, and the Yankees forced Suarez to work through traffic before the decisive fifth. Boston entered the finale close enough in the postseason race that the season-series tiebreaker could affect home-field positioning if the clubs finish tied.
The Yankees added a run in the sixth and another in the seventh before a nine-run eighth turned a significant rivalry win into something much rarer.
A blowout becomes a history lesson
Austin Wells did not start against the left-handed Suarez. Aaron Boone opened with right-handed catcher Ali Sanchez, then sent Wells up as a pinch hitter in the sixth when Boston went to a right-hander.
Wells delivered a sacrifice fly. Two innings later, he rewrote an MLB record.
The catcher hit a two-run homer off Jovani Moran to make it 9-1. Goldschmidt followed with a solo shot. After Boston moved infielder Andruw Monasterio to the mound, José Caballero hit a three-run homer and Wells came up again. He launched another two-run homer for a 16-1 lead.
Wells became the first player in MLB history, as far as available records show, to hit two home runs in one inning in a game he did not start. He is also the first known player to enter as a pinch hitter and later homer twice in the same inning.
Wells finished with two official at-bats, two homers and five RBIs. His season line moved to .184 with 10 home runs, 26 RBIs and a .593 OPS in 102 games.
Wells joins six Yankees across seven historic innings
Wells is the sixth different Yankees player to homer twice in one inning and the first since Gleyber Torres on Sept. 21, 2022. The feat has happened seven times because Alex Rodriguez did it twice.
Yankees to homer twice in an inning
| Date | Player | Inning |
| 8/30/26 | Austin Wells | 8th inning |
| 9/21/22 | Gleyber Torres | 8th inning |
| 10/4/09 | Alex Rodriguez | 6th inning |
| 9/5/07 | Alex Rodriguez | 7th inning |
| 6/30/77 | Cliff Johnson | 8th inning |
| 5/23/62 | Joe Pepitone | 8th inning |
| 6/24/36 | Joe DiMaggio | 5th inning |
The list stretches 90 years from DiMaggio to Wells, with the newest entry the only one by a player who began the game on the bench. Wells’ two eighth-inning homers also came against two different types of pitchers: Morán, then position player Monasterio.
Chisholm reaches 40, then sparks an unwritten-rules fight
Chisholm created a separate piece of Yankees history in the same inning.
He walked to open the eighth with New York leading 7-1, then stole second and third without a throw. The two steals raised his total from 38 to 40, making him the first Yankees player to reach 40 in a season since Brett Gardner stole 49 in 2011.
Chisholm finished 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs. MLB lists him at .227 with 18 home runs, 54 RBIs, 65 runs and 40 steals in 128 games. He has been caught eight times, an 83.3% success rate, and leads the American League in steals.
The running ignited a dispute over baseball’s unwritten rules. With the Yankees ahead by six, the Red Sox were not holding Chisholm close. WEEI play-by-play broadcaster Will Flemming objected, suggested on air that Moran should hit Wells and later suggested a fight with Chisholm.
Both plays were officially scored as stolen bases.
Chisholm puts Rickey Henderson back in conversation
Chisholm now has 40 steals, 52 walks and 18 home runs. The only other Yankees seasons with at least 40 steals, 50 walks and 18 homers belong to Rickey Henderson in 1985 and 1986. Henderson posted 80 steals, 99 walks and 24 homers in 1985, then 87 steals, 89 walks and 28 homers in 1986.
Chisholm tied his career high of 40 steals from 2024, when that total was split between Miami and New York. This is his first 40-steal season entirely with the Yankees.
Recent Yankees 40-steal seasons
| Season | Player | Stolen bases |
| 2026 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 40 |
| 2011 | Brett Gardner | 49 |
| 2010 | Brett Gardner | 47 |
| 2002 | Alfonso Soriano | 41 |
| 2001 | Alfonso Soriano | 43 |
In February, Chisholm told MLB.com he believed he had 50-50 potential. The 50-steal half remains within reach: he needs 10 steals over the Yankees‘ final 25 games. The 50-homer half is mathematically alive but would require 32 more home runs in those 25 games.
For the Yankees, one player turned two bench at-bats into an MLB first, while another turned two eighth-inning dashes into a franchise milestone. Both happened in the same nine-run inning of a win that gave New York the season-series tiebreaker over its closest wild-card pursuer.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
