Red Sox Win Game 1, Lead Yankees 1-0

The Boston Red Sox clinched the American League’s second wild-card spot with 89 wins when Ceddanne Rafaela hit a walk-off triple at Fenway. In Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium, manager Alex Cora used a matchup-driven lineup against lefty Max Fried and Boston won 3-1, leaving the Red Sox one victory from the Division Series. Cora praised Yankee Stadium’s visiting clubhouse and staff as “a great baseball environment” with “the best cook in the league,” a comment Yankees manager Aaron Boone called exaggerated while disputing Cora’s earlier line that “nobody thought we were going to make it to October.” Boone also lauded Garrett Crochet, who was credited with leading MLB with 255 strikeouts and a 2.59 ERA and an 18-5 record. Fans across New England celebrated the clinch, and the club’s late-season surge after trading Rafael Devers and navigating injuries has been widely noted.