NEW YORK (AP) — One year after rallying past the Red Sox to win an AL wild-card series, the New York Yankees battered Boston.
Max Fried dominated the Red Sox in the playoffs for the second straight year, Cody Bellinger and Luis García Jr. homered, and the Yankees rolled to a 9-2 win Wednesday night that completed a two-game sweep.
"We enjoyed tonight. We got a lot more work to do," Bellinger said.
New York will face AL East champion Tampa Bay in an AL Division Series starting Saturday.
"The fans were electric from the first pitch and the boys were hungry. We got a young, hungry team here," Yankees captain Aaron Judge said as teammates sprayed him with bubbly during the clubhouse celebration. "This makes me feel young every single time."
Judge missed this series because of a calf injury and isn't sure whether he will play against the Rays, who beat New York 7-6 in the season series.
"Saturday's a long ways away," he said.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead after Willson Contreras homered to end Boston's 26-inning postseason scoreless streak, the Yankees broke open the game with a six-run sixth after Spencer Jones reached on a wild pitch while striking out leading off — with the help of a video review.
García, acquired at the trade deadline, had three hits in his first postseason start, and Bellinger had four RBIs that included a three-run homer capping the sixth-inning burst that put New York ahead 8-1.
"Step one," said Bellinger, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from his dad, Clay, a 2000 Yankees World Series champion. "Now we got to go into Tampa and play against a tough team."
Boston, which reached the playoffs after rebounding from a 32-46 start, lost last year's wild-card matchup after defeating the Yankees in the opener.
"Regardless of all the special things that happened this summer, and there was quite a few, the goal is to win the World Series and that ended for us tonight, so it’s frustrating," Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. "There's a lot of things you can say, but in the moment right now, I think the guys only care that we lost. And it's going to take some time to get over that."
Boston, which also got a seventh-inning homer from Nick Sogard off Will Warren, was missing leadoff hitter Roman Anthony because of a hand injury. The Red Sox were held to a .117 average in the series (7-for-60) with 18 strikeouts and outscored 18-2.
New York hit .382 in the series. Boston's bullpen had a 20.25 ERA.
"We played great baseball in a lot of ways here, obviously anchored by our two great starters," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Yankees batters hit .450 (9-for-20) with runners in scoring position after finishing 19th among the 30 teams with a .246 RISP during the regular season.
"I feel like it's a whole new level from regular season to these last two days," Austin Wells said.
A day after Cam Schlittler led New York to a 9-0 win, Fried pitched three-hit ball over six innings to win a postseason game for the first time since the 2021 World Series clincher with Atlanta.
New York started eight left-handed hitters against Sonny Gray, back on the mound where his career derailed during a dismal Yankees stretch in 2017 and '18.
García’s fourth-inning homer put the Yankees ahead and Bellinger, one of the top lefty-on-lefty hitters in the major leagues, added a fifth-inning RBI single against left-handed Erik Miller, who had just relieved.
Gray was disappointed he wasn't allowed to face Bellinger.
"I think I'm the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time. I think that’s a fact," Gray said. "I would've liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that’s the competitor I am. And, yeah, I think you can probably ask the guys and they felt the same way. So I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convicted."
Jones struck out both to start and end the bottom of the sixth, a weird half-inning that included a wild pitch, throwing error, stolen base, bunt single and intentional walk to Ben Rice that preceded Bellinger's homer.
"I can't believe they were willing to face a guy like Belli with men on base there," Rice said.
Garrett Crochet, who beat the Yankees in last year's wild-card series opener, hadn't pitched since April 25 because of left shoulder inflammation when he bounced a sweeper off Adley Rutschman's chest. The catcher picked up the ball and threw to first, where umpire John Libka signaled that Jones was out. The Yankees appealed and the call was reversed by the video umpire at the commissioner’s office.
"I couldn't believe he was there," Boone said. "I saw the ball squirt away a little bit. I didn’t think that much of it, and looked up and I was, like, 'Oh, he's safe.'"
Jones swiped second and kept going to third when Rutschman's throw skipped into center. Rookie George Lombard Jr. singled for his first postseason RBI, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Trent Grisham loaded the bases with a bunt single.
Wells' sacrifice fly against Garrett Whitlock increased the lead to 4-1, Ryan McMahon hit an RBI groundout and Rice, who had four hits and six RBIs in the opener, was intentionally walked. Bellinger reached down and pulled a changeup into the right-center field seats.
Fried struck out six and walked one. He has allowed one run over 12 1/3 innings in the two Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
"Definitely wasn't sharp from the get-go but just wanted to challenge them, not try to give any free passes, especially in the first inning," Fried said.
After a night of celebration and a day off, the Yankees will head to Florida on Friday.
"There’s just so much more to do," Bellinger said after the big night with his father on hand. "So obviously enjoy the moment, understand how cool it is, but keep on going."
