SPORTS UPDATE
NEW YORK — In the end, it was the players who weren’t in the lineup in Game 1 who helped the New York Yankees force a Game 3 against the Boston Red Sox. It was I RICE early and Jazz Chisholm Jr. late Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, extending New York’s season with a Game 2 win ( NYY 4, BOS 3). Thursday’s Game 3 will send one team to the ALDS to face the Toronto Blue Jays and the other home.
Rice did not start Game 1 against Garrett Crochet because he’s a lefty hitter who can have trouble with lefties, and also because Paul Goldschmidt crushed lefties in 2025. Rice and Goldschmidt make for a natural platoon. It has been tough sledding the last few weeks for Goldschmidt though. Rice, meanwhile, went 10 for 23 with three homers in his final six regular-season games.
“Being aggressive to where and what I am looking for in the zone,” Rice said after the game about his recent hot streak. “Always coming up with a plan, being convicted in that, and just being ready to go.”
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In the first inning of Game 2, Rice hit the very first pitch he saw in the series into the right field seats for a quick 2-0 Yankees lead. Brayan Bello left a cement mixer out over the plate and Rice did what he’s been doing all season: hit the ball hard in the air. His underlying batted ball data and contact rates are exceptional. Among the best in baseball, in fact. Swings like this are a perfect example:
Rice is the first Yankee to hit a home run in his first career postseason at-bat since Shane Spencer the Home Run Dispenser back in 1998. He’s only the sixth player this century to hit a home run on his first career postseason pitch.
“I know my role,” Rice said when asked if it was difficult to be out of the lineup in Game 1. “And yesterday my role was to be ready for a big at-bat off the bench, and today I was starting. The approach doesn’t change. I mean, I am just going to be prepared for every at-bat I get and every chance I get.”
Like Rice, Chisholm did not start against Crochet because he’s a lefty who’s had trouble against lefties. Also, Amed Rosario entered the game 6 for 9 with a home run against Crochet, so he drew the start at second. Chisholm did enter Game 1 in the late innings and flew out in New York’s failed ninth-inning rally. After the game, he made it pretty clear wasn’t happy being out of the lineup.
“I guess, yeah,” Chisholm said Tuesday with his back turned to reporters when asked if he was surprised to be out of the lineup after Game 1. “… It’s always tough watching when your team’s down.”
How did Chisholm handle the disappointment?
“I played MLB The Show and mercy ruled someone,” he explained, adding he has Ken Griffey Jr. on his custom New York Aliens team. “That’s how I get my stress off.”
In Game 2, Chisholm’s contributions came on both sides of the ball. He saved at least one run in the seventh inning with a diving stop on Masataka Yoshida’s ground ball back up in the middle, more or less the same ball Yoshida hit that drove in two runs in Game 1. Chisholm did not get an out on the play, but keeping the ball on the infield forced the runner to hold up at third.
The next batter, Trevor Storyflew out to deep center field to strand the bases loaded and keep the game tied 3-3.
“You see a ground ball, you got to stop it. You have to keep it in the infield. You have to stop that run from scoring,” Chisholm said about his diving play in the seventh. “I felt at that point it would have been a really crucial run. I was doing what I could to keep the ball in the infield. Not trying to make the play at first base but keep it in the infield. I caught the ball, I was like maybe I could make it at first base. At the end of the day, it is stopping that run from scoring.”
Chisholm’s eyes and legs built New York’s game-winning run in the eighth. He worked a seven-pitch, two-out walk against Garrett Whitlock to give the Yankees a little life. The next batter, Austin Wellsroped a single to right field, and, because it hit the side wall at a weird angle, it caromed away from right fielder Nate Eaton. That allowed Chisholm to score all the way from first base.
“Going through my head, I am already running, so any ball that an outfielder moves to his left or right, I have to score, in my head,” Chisholm said. “That’s all I was thinking.”
The Red Sox will start lefty Connelly Early in Game 3 and Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Chisholm will be in the lineup. The Yankees will get together and think about the first base situation, though it would be awfully tough to have Rice on the bench again. He’s blistered everything the last few weeks, including his first-inning homer in Game 2. The best lineup includes him.
Whatever the lineup is going to be in Game 3 is whatever the lineup is going to be in Game 3. We’ll find out Thursday. In Game 2 though, two players who were not trusted enough to be in the Game 1 lineup made impact plays. Rice opened the scoring with his homer and Chisholm saved a run with his glove and created a run with his legs. They gave the Yankees the shot in the arm they lacked Tuesday.
“I feel like every game is a must-win. For us, we want to win every day. Any other professional athlete thinking about a game they want to play, it is a must-win,” Chisholm said about Game 3. “We always put everything out there on the line, especially the playoffs. We want to give every game. There’s no space. You don’t want to give any team an edge. Obviously a must-win.”
