NEW YORK — Fernando Cruz could not have asked for a bigger stage.
The 35-year-old reliever walked into a nightmare situation on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. Bases loaded. Nobody out. The game tied at 3-3. The Boston Red Sox had the momentum.
Carlos Rodon had lost the strike zone, throwing eight straight balls to start the seventh inning. Cruz was called on to face the heart of Boston’s order with the Yankees’ season hanging in the balance.
What came next was pure playoff drama.
Ceddanne Rafaela popped out for the first out. Nick Sogard lifted a fly ball for the second. Masataka Yoshida then ripped a grounder up the middle that Jazz Chisholm Jr. smothered at second base. He could not record an out, but the stop kept a run from crossing the plate.
“That was the game right there,” Cruz said afterward.
Trevor Story followed with a deep drive to center. Trent Grisham sprinted back, settled under it, and made the catch. The inning was over. Yankee Stadium erupted.
A celebration for the ages for Cruz
Fernando Cruz’s reaction was instant lore. He turned toward center field as the ball sailed into Grisham’s glove. He screamed. He slammed his fist into his chest. He spun around and roared toward the dugout. The emotion poured out of him, a celebration that captured everything Yankees-Red Sox means.
Manager Aaron Boone joked he nearly had to “get out of the way” as Cruz strutted back to the bench, still pounding his chest in triumph.
A lifelong dream realized
The scene was more than just baseball to Cruz. It was a dream realized.
“This is something that I’ve been dreaming, that I’ve been imagining since I was a little kid,” Cruz said. “I’m an emotional guy. I’m passionate about what I do, and I love what I do. I love doing it for my guys. And it’s time to make that known.”
For Cruz, this rivalry was personal. Growing up in Puerto Rico, he followed Yankees-Red Sox games religiously. The moment that stuck with him most was the infamous 2004 brawl between Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek.
“I’ve been watching this rivalry for a long time now, since the A-Rod/Varitek situation,” Cruz said. “I think that’s when it really started for me. Now, being part of it, it’s just an amazing feeling.”
According to the Daily News, Cruz called the experience “outrageous.” He added, “Everybody that knows me knows how important it is for me.”
Justifying the trade
Cruz was not only playing for the moment. He was also playing to prove the Yankees right. Before the season, the team made the difficult decision to trade Gold Glove catcher Jose Trevino to acquire him. Trevino had been a popular figure in the clubhouse and a trusted partner for the pitching staff.
Cruz responded with the best season of his career. Over 48 innings, he posted a 3.56 ERA and 3.18 FIP, far stronger than the 4.85 ERA he carried with the Reds in 2024. His splitter has been the difference, holding opponents to a .170 average and .280 slugging percentage. Nearly half of his strikeouts — 49.2 percent — came via the pitch.
Bullpen bounces back after Game 1 struggles
Cruz was not the only Yankee reliever to shine in Game 2. The bullpen, criticized for faltering in September and again in Tuesday’s series opener, came alive when it mattered most.
Devin Williams took the ball in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff single to Alex Bregman, raising concerns given his uneven 4.79 ERA during the season. But Williams quickly calmed down. Nathaniel Lowe rolled into a double play, and then Williams struck out Carlos Narvaez with a wicked changeup that left the batter spinning and sent his bat flying toward Nate Eaton in the on-deck circle.
“He has just stacked a lot of good outings and just pitching with a lot of confidence, but getting in the zone more and having a presence with both pitches,” Boone said of Williams, who appears to be peaking at the right time.
David Bednar closed the door in the ninth. He struck out two before Aaron Judge caught Rafaela’s deep fly ball at the wall in right. It was Bednar’s first postseason save.
“Never a doubt,” Bednar said with a grin. Asked if he could pitch a third straight day if needed, he did not hesitate: “Absolutely.”
Faith in the bullpen unit
For much of September, New York’s bullpen had been a sore spot. Game 1’s struggles only intensified the criticism. But Cruz insisted the group never lost confidence.
“We just happened to have a bad moment in September like everybody does,” Cruz said. “But everybody knows who we are and how we operate. We have a really, really good unit.”
He had even predicted before the series that the relief corps would be the team’s strength.
“I said it before, I think we have the best core of relief pitching,” Cruz said, according to MLB.com. “We got through a tough time. I think it was actually really good for us that it happened, because the adversity became a blessing. You could see at the end of the season, the results were there for the team.”
On Wednesday, his words proved true.
Saves Yankees gamer
Rodon’s outing was not dominant but was steady enough to keep the Yankees in the fight. He lasted six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits while walking three and striking out six. He turned the ball over to the bullpen in a tie game, trusting the relievers to do their job.
Cruz threw 14 pitches, eight of them for strikes. He allowed just one hit and escaped the most dangerous jam of the night.
The Yankees went on to win 4-3, forcing a decisive Game 3 in the American League Wild Card Series.
For Cruz, the night was more than just numbers. It was a baptism into one of baseball’s greatest rivalries, and a memory that will live in Yankees history if this team makes a run.
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