NEW YORK — Garrett Crochet sat in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium late Wednesday night watching the Yankees game. He is finally healthy, but suddenly out of rotation until spring.
The Boston Red Sox ace had not pitched since April 25 because of left shoulder inflammation. He returned in relief in the sixth inning of Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series. He faced four batters and did not record an out.
Afterward, he tried to explain what it meant to see a second straight October end in the Bronx.
“For our season to end the same way it did last year, against what the media would probably portray, and I think a lot of the guys in this clubhouse would say, is our biggest rival, it sucks,” Crochet said.
The night turned on one decision. The New York Yankees led 5-1 in the sixth. With a runner on second and first base open, Boston manager Chad Tracy intentionally walked Ben Rice.
Rice had homered twice and driven in six runs in the opener. Tracy chose to face Cody Bellinger instead.
Bellinger drove Garrett Whitlock’s 1-0 changeup into the right-field seats for a three-run homer and an 8-1 lead. The Yankees won 9-2, completed a two-game sweep and set up an AL Division Series date with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Knicks guard Josh Hart and Hall of Famer Sabathia spent the evening piling on the Red Sox online. They turned the Yankees’ sweep into a public roast of Boston’s strategy and its fans. Hart went after the Rice walk.
The walk that set off a Knicks star
Hart’s first post went straight at the intentional walk that put Bellinger at the plate.
“YOU WANTED TO WALK RICE TO GET TO BELLI?! BOSTON YOU DUMB AS HELL!!!” Hart wrote.
He followed with a shorter message aimed at the rivalry itself.
“NY RUNS BOSTON. BELLI IS HIM.” Hart wrote.
Hart is the great-nephew of Elston Howard, the first Black player in Yankees history. According to MLB.com, he threw a ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium on June 17 with Jalen Brunson as the Knicks celebrated their NBA title.
A feud that started in August
Wednesday was not Hart’s first shot at Boston this season. On Aug. 30, Jazz Chisholm Jr. stole second and third with the Yankees ahead 7-1 in the eighth inning. Red Sox broadcaster Will Flemming objected on air.
Flemming called Chisholm “bush league” and said reliever Jovani Morán “should fight Chisholm.” He apologized the next day, saying his comments “crossed a line,” according to MLB.com.
Hart also weighed in, calling for the broadcaster’s removal in a post reported by EssentiallySports.
“Yo @RedSox your idiotic announcer got to go,” Hart wrote.
Chisholm offered his own reply in Game 2. With the Yankees ahead 8-2 in the seventh, he stole a base, then pulled off a double steal with Trent Grisham. Austin Wells followed with an RBI single for the final run.
Sabathia began it from the very start, ended with a jab
Before the first pitch, NBC analyst CC Sabathia had framed the night around Boston starter Sonny Gray, the former Yankee who went 18-5 this season.
“This is what he wants. He’s been the guy all year for them, he has 18 wins. The last time he went out against (New York), he dealt against the Yankees,” Sabathia said on the network’s pregame show.
Gray lasted 4 2/3 innings. The sellout crowd of 49,004 booed him off the mound in the fifth.
By the end of the night, the loudest jeers were coming from far outside the ballpark.
After the game, the Yankees legend posted a video that depicts the inevitable fate of Boston fans. Sabathia, a 2009 World Series champion in pinstripes, posted a string of jabs. He capped the night with an image of a Boston fan wearing a paper bag over his head.
Four straight playoff wins over Boston, 26-5
The trolling rests on a real shift. Boston won nine of 10 postseason games against the Yankees from Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS through Game 1 of last year’s wild-card round. That stretch included series wins in 2004, 2018 and 2021.
Since then, the Yankees have won four straight by a combined 26-5, a tally shows. Last year’s 4-3 and 4-0 wins were followed by 9-0 and 9-2 routs this week.
Boston went 26 2/3 innings without a postseason run before Willson Contreras homered off Max Fried in the sixth Wednesday. It was the longest playoff scoring drought in franchise history. The Red Sox hit .117 in the series and were outscored 18-2.
Former Yankee Anthony Rizzo, working the NBC pregame show, pointed to Massachusetts natives Rice and Cam Schlittler, who starred in the opener.
“If you’re a Red Sox fan seeing that home-grown talent on the Yankees last night, that had to sting,” Rizzo said.
The gap did not come down to talent on paper. Boston finished third in the majors in team WAR at 48.0, ahead of the Yankees’ 46.9, yet won only 87 games. Its payroll ranked 12th this season.
Judge, the Knicks and the Rays next
Inside the Yankees clubhouse, the Knicks came up again. Aaron Judge, who missed the series with a right calf strain, pointed to the city’s NBA champions as teammates sprayed champagne.
“We’re definitely inspired by the Knicks, gotta keep the winning going in New York,” Judge said.
Fried earned the win with six innings of one-run ball. Gray took the loss.
Aaron Boone’s club opens the ALDS on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field against the AL East champion Rays, who won the season series 7-6. Judge’s status for the series remains uncertain.
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