After winning 9-0 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, the New York Yankees followed it up with a 9-2 victory in Game 2 to officially eliminate the Boston Red Sox and advance to the ALDS to take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Yankees were once again firing on all cylinders from the plate, even without Aaron Judge. They also got stellar pitching, which Boston simply had no response for outside of two solo shots during Wednesday’s game.
Aaron Boone Makes Strong Postgame Statement
After the victory, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was interviewed by YES Network and made a strong statement about his team’s outlook moving forward if they play the way they did during this Wild Card Series.
“We played great baseball and if we play like that we can beat anybody,” Boone said. “It’s two games in what we hope is a long month. But really proud of them. That’s a really good team that persevered through a lot over there and runs a lot of good pitchers at you.
“We know we’re going to take on a great Rays team in a few days,” Boone added.
“If we play like that, we could beat anybody.”
Aaron Boone joins @M_Marakovits to applaud the effort of the Yankees throughout the Wild Card Series. pic.twitter.com/vIeQ8AUdsS
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 1, 2026
Yankees’ ALDS Outlook
With the way the Yankees’ starters pitched, they didn’t have to really stress the bullpen, which now gives them two days of rest before Saturday’s series opener at Tropicana Field.
New York has many options for how it wants to approach the beginning of the Rays series, and it’s likely that RHP Gerrit Cole or LHP Carlos Rodon will get Game 1 duties, while Cam Schlittler and Max Fried set up for the games that follow.
There also remains a chance that superstar Aaron Judge makes his return from the IL after the Yankees left him off the 26-man roster for the Wild Card Series.
Yankees’ Aaron Boone Makes Strong Statement After Eliminating Red Sox