The Boston Red Sox won their season series against the New York Yankees by a wide 9-4 margin. The series ended on an unfortunate note for Boston, though.
The Sox lost the first two games of their final series against New York and only managed to stave off a sweep. Boston has had a turbulent September due to injuries to critical players like Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Dustin May, to name a few, and the Yankees finally got to it for a series win.
Aaron Judge was instrumental in his team's win at Fenway Park from September 12-14, though, not because of the rallying cry he gave to reporters the night before when he was questioned about the team's approach heading into Boston.
"Flush the past, go out there and focus on right now, you know, we haven't had too much success against [the Red Sox], but no better time to change it," Judge said. "Especially right now getting near the end of the year. It's time to really turn it up a notch."
Aaron Judge's less-than-inspiring advice was enough for Yankees to take final regular season series against Red Sox
His speech was hardly inspiring, but the star outfielder collected five hits, including two homers, five runs and two RBI during the three game series in Boston. Judge broke out of his historic lack of success at Fenway Park — his slash line there is up to .217/.341/.467 over 54 games. Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also posted great series with five hits each, Rice logged two doubles and Chisholm a home run.
The Red Sox had a lot going for them to take their fourth and final series from the Yankees ahead of their likely Wild Card matchup. Boston had New York's number all season long, but its luck ceased early in the series. Luis Gil posted six no-hit innings against the Sox in the first game, and Brayan Bello, usually a Yankees killer, didn't have his magic touch in the second game. He surrendered four runs on five hits with three walks on Saturday evening.
The Sox's offense struggled in the first two games of the series, with just four runs and a staggering 20 strikeouts between them. They finished the series on a positive note behind Garrett Crochet, whose six-inning, three-run, 12 strikeout outing crushed a three-game losing skid in its tracks. Boston's offense shot out to a six-run lead against Will Warren in the first inning, and that's all it needed to avoid a sweep.
Had the Red Sox taken every series from the Yankees this season, their real and mental advantage in the Wild Card round could be even greater. Boston is clearly in New York's heads, and the flames of the rivalry could soon be fed by another playoff matchup — the two teams haven't met in the postseason since 2021, when the Sox mashed their way to a single-game Wild Card victory.