It was very worrying for the New York Yankees when they dropped Game 1 of their AL Wild Card series clash against the Boston Red Sox. They were one loss away from seeing their season come to an abrupt end, and at home, losing Game 1 was far from the ideal start. But they could now simply chalk that loss up to facing Garrett Crochet, as they took the next two games of the series, including Game 3 on Friday (a 4-0 win) to punch their ticket to the ALDS to face the Toronto Blue Jays.
Losing Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series was a troubling omen for the Yankees. But they managed to overcome superstition and set a new precedent. As Bob Nightengale of USA Today pointed out, the Yankees became the first team in the AL Wild Card series era (since 2022) to drop the first game of the three-game wild card series but still come back to advance to the ALDS.
Three-game series come and go so fast that teams that lose the first game find it difficult to gather their bearings and right the ship enough to advance to the next playoff round. But the Yankees had their home crowd rallying behind them, and in Game 3, they also got an ace-level performance from rookie Cam Schlitler, who threw eight innings of shutout ball while allowing just five hits and striking out a total of 12 Red Sox batters.
Things are looking up for the Yankees now that they've dispatched of their sworn rival Red Sox, who simply couldn't get anything going against Schlittler on Thursday. But the Blue Jays now await, and the Yankees will have to travel up north to begin what should be a very exciting matchup between them and another division rival.
Yankees move on to ALDS to face Blue Jays
The Yankees did have their fair share of trouble against the Blue Jays during the regular season. They lost the season series against them, 8-5, and their defense ran into some woes whenever they played on Rogers Centre's home turf.
But this Yankees team has the best offense in MLB, and the Blue Jays do have a tendency to put up some shaky pitching performances. New York can also ride out their best starters, with Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Cam Schlittler putting up incredible performances during the Wild Card series.
Game 1 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Blue Jays will be on Saturday at 4:08 PM E.T.
