The Yankees scored 18 runs in 16 innings without star slugger Aaron Judge in their lineup. The Red Sox bullpen allowed 15 of those runs.
Offensively, the Red Sox struck out 19 times in 60 plate appearances and had four extra-base hits, including three from Willson Contreras.
This goes back to how the Red Sox finished the regular season. In a weak American League, they had essentially secured a playoff spot by August 25 when they went 73-59, a record 14 games above .500.
“Our players continue to fight. I congratulate them for that,” manager Chad Tracy said at the time.
The Red Sox were 14-16 over the remaining 30 games of the regular season and were outscored by 27 runs. They lost this fight.
Some of this was self-induced. The Red Sox have adopted a strategy to give their regulars plenty of rest before the postseason and use the time to get Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jahmai Jones and other additional at-bat replacements so they can be sharper in the postseason.
There’s a fine line between taking care of players and losing your edge, and the Sox landed on the wrong side. of it.
They hit .220 in September and averaged 2.96 runs. This discomfort carried over into the playoffs. Cam Schlittler and Max Fried pitched well for the Yankees, but the Sox weren’t ready to face them either.
“We ran into two good pitchers who threw the ball really well. But we didn’t get a hit,” Tracy said. “That’s part of it. And obviously we wanted it. You try to do it. Your mindset is: Can you get a lead?”
“Can you get out to a two- or three-point lead, play from a lead and exploit the game that way? And we just haven’t been able to do that these two days.”
This is a problem that power hitters can solve. Late last season, after a playoff loss to the Yankees, director of baseball Craig Breslow said the Red Sox needed to address their lack of power because home runs were so crucial in the postseason.
But the Red Sox have hit 163 home runs this season, 23 fewer than last season. This too was a personal decision. Third baseman Alex Bregman wanted to return to the Sox after a productive 2025 season, but was deemed too expensive.
First baseman Pete Alonso seemed like a perfect fit, but the Sox balked at his price tag. He signed with the Orioles and hit 43 home runs, including four in six games at Yankee Stadium, and had 113 RBIs.
Do you think he could have helped? Red Sox teams that won championships didn’t take advantage of the game and throw short plays. They crushed the ball.
Tracy seemed stunned after the second game, answering questions with only a few words in a voice barely above a whisper.
Like his players, the coach had two bad matches.
Tracy was too quick to knock starting pitcher Payton Tolle out of the opener and a 1-0 deficit became 3-0 when Ben Rice hit Erik Miller, a relief pitcher who allowed six runs in his final five games of the regular season.
The same thing happened in Game 2 when Tracy delivered a quick hook to starter Sonny Gray in the fifth inning. Again, he singled off Miller, who allowed an RBI single to Cody Bellinger.
Bellinger has hit lefties much better over the past two seasons, something the number crunchers who guide so many decisions the Red Sox make must have missed.
“I wish I had lived and died with me then,” Gray said. “But that’s the competitor that I am. I think you can probably ask the guys, and they felt the same way.”
He was right about that. First baseman Willson Contreras pantomimed closing his lips when asked if Gray left the game. Other players expressed similar sentiments.
Tracy, who received a three-year contract extension on September 22, will learn from his mistakes. Maybe the Red Sox won’t skimp on power hitters next time around either.
The Yankees face the Rays on Saturday as the Red Sox face a fifth straight season without winning a playoff series. This is a first for this ownership group since they took over in 2002.
The last two games were magnified, as is always the case in the playoffs. But the roots were planted in August when they reached the finish.
Peter Abraham can be contacted at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social.
Gn sports
