BRONX, NY — Aaron Boone’s big-game and postseason ledger is expansive between his game-winning home run in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox in 2003, playing in that ensuring World Series against the Florida Marlins, and then navigating the Yankees through six previous postseason appearances with an American League pennant to show for it last year.
But it was Thursday night’s winner-take-all Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series against those same Red Sox in which he felt the most strain in his entire baseball career.
“Honestly, going into the night for me personally, it felt like as pressure-packed a game as I have ever been in,” Boone said. “As a player, manager, going into the World Series, that’s clinching to go into a World Series, just because the context in my brain of what I think our team is.”
Boone thinks his team is a legitimate World Series contender on the cusp of taking that next step from last year’s five-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Fall Classic — a team that can finally break the current 16-year championship drought that the Yankees have not experienced in decades.
It was the mercurial nature of the Wild Card Series, the sudden finality that it brings, and participating in it against their most hated rival that created this perfect storm within Boone’s consciousness. It certainly didn’t help that they were shut down by Garrett Crochet to drop Game 1 on Tuesday night, which immediately put their season on the brink.
“I have talked to you guys a lot over the last several weeks about how good of a club we have now at this time of year,” Boone said. “You go into that best-of-three, and it is pressure-filled. And it is against the team that you know so well, and is your rival, and they win Game 1.”
The Yankees ultimately found a way and made history by doing so. They squeaked out a 4-3 win in Game 2 thanks to Jazz Chisholm’s heroics and Austin Wells’ eighth-inning go-ahead single.
Thursday’s decisive Game 3 became the Cam Schlittler show, as the rookie right-hander dazzled with eight shutout innings, yielding just five hits with 12 strikeouts and zero walks.
In his postseason debut, he became the first pitcher in MLB history to spin eight shutout innings, strikeout 12 or more, and walk zero in a playoff game. He also set a franchise record for most postseason strikeouts by a rookie.
“I knew exactly what I needed to do and go out there, especially against my hometown team,” Schlittler, a Walpole, MA native, said. “As I told [former Yankee Andy Pettitte], I wasn’t going to let them beat me. I was just overconfident in that fact. Making sure I wasn’t getting too carried away with it.”
Schlittler dominates, Yankees eliminate Red Sox in Game 3 to clinch ALDS berth
Since Major League Baseball introduced the best-of-three Wild Card Series in 2022, no team had overturned a 1-0 series deficit and won. The Yankees are the first.
Boone might have felt the pressure, but his superstar captain, Aaron Judge, didn’t.
“No [there were no nerves after losing Game 1],” Judge said. “That was from you guys [the media], not us.”
“You know, these guys just kept playing,” Boone added. “A great opponent. A storied opponent. Here, down one. The boys answered the bell and played great baseball these last couple days.”
Next stop, Toronto, as the Yankees have a quick turnaround for Game 1 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays. First pitch is scheduled for 4:08 p.m. ET on Saturday.
