NEW YORK — One night after being benched, Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered a season-saving performance for the New York Yankees, using his glove and his legs to secure a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series.
Chisholm’s heroics kept the Yankees’ season alive, highlighted by a diving stop in the seventh inning to prevent the go-ahead run and a crucial sprint from first base to score the tiebreaking run in the eighth on a single by Austin Wells. The win forces a decisive Game 3 on Thursday.
The performance marked a dramatic turnaround for Chisholm, a regular starter who was conspicuously absent from the lineup in Game 1 against a left-handed pitcher. Visibly frustrated by the decision, Chisholm’s reaction prompted a pre-game response from manager Aaron Boone. “I don’t need him to put a happy face on,” Boone said. “I need him to go out and play his butt off for us tonight. That’s what I expect to happen.”
With the score tied in the seventh and Red Sox runners on first and second, Masataka Yoshida hit a sharp grounder that seemed destined for right field. Chisholm made a full-extension diving stop to his right, and while his throw was late, the play prevented the lead run from scoring. “That was the game right there,” said reliever Fernando Cruz. “Jazz saved us the game. Completely.”
In the following inning, Chisholm worked a two-out walk. On a full-count pitch to Austin Wells, Chisholm took off running and scored all the way from first on Wells’s single to right field, sliding home just ahead of the throw to ignite the Yankee Stadium crowd. “Any ball that an outfielder moves to his left or right, I have to score, in my head,” Chisholm explained.
The Yankees’ offense started strong when Ben Rice, another left-handed hitter benched in Game 1, hit a two-run home run in the first inning of his postseason debut. The Red Sox countered with a two-run single from Trevor Story in the third, after which manager Alex Cora made the surprise move to pull starter Brayan Bello after just 28 pitches. The aggressive bullpen strategy was effective until Garrett Whitlock, Boston’s fifth reliever, allowed the game-winning single.
Teammate Aaron Judge praised Chisholm’s professionalism. “What do you expect? He’s a game changer,” Judge said. “It just shows you the maturity of not taking what happened before and bringing it into today’s game.”
Thursday’s game will be the fourth winner-take-all postseason matchup between the historic rivals. The victor will advance to the American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
To prepare for the high-stakes game, Chisholm said he unwound after his Game 1 benching by playing the video game “MLB The Show.” “I mercy-ruled someone,” he said. “That’s how I get my stress off.”
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