No Aaron Judge, no problem as Yankees breeze past Red Sox in Game 1

Aaron Judge was left off the New York Yankees’ roster for the AL Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox due to a strain in his right calf. However, that did not have any major impact on Game 1 as the Yankees opened the Wild Card series with a 9-0 win.

The game was competitive through much of the night, with New York holding only a 1-0 lead entering the fifth inning and a 2-0 lead entering the seventh before pulling away late. The difference was the combination of Cam Schlittler’s dominance on the mound and Ben Rice’s production at the plate.

Schlittler carried a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning, retired 13 consecutive hitters at one point, struck out seven during that stretch, and finished another postseason gem against Boston. Across his two career Wild Card starts against the Red Sox, Schlittler has now thrown 14.1 scoreless innings with 22 strikeouts, one walk and seven hits allowed. He entered the postseason with a 1.95 ERA, 239 strikeouts and 33 starts.

Rice supplied the offensive breakthrough, launching a 423-foot homer in the fifth inning to double the Yankees’ lead and later delivering a grand slam in the eighth. He finished with four hits and six RBIs, tying a Yankees postseason franchise record and becoming the first player since Robinson Cano in 2011 to drive in six runs in a playoff game for New York.

George Lombard, in his postseason debut, also became the second-youngest player in franchise history to appear in a Yankees playoff game behind only Mickey Mantle. Boston starter Payton Tolle kept the game within reach before being removed after 83 pitches in the fifth inning, but the decision immediately backfired when Rice homered off reliever Erik Miller.

The Red Sox never recovered offensively against Schlittler, who threw 117 pitches before exiting in the seventh. The victory puts New York one win away from advancing, while Boston faces elimination in Game 2.