NEW YORK — The Red Sox Wild Card Game 1 ended in a 9-0 shutout Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, as Cam Schlittler struck out 10 over 6⅓ scoreless innings and Ben Rice drove in six runs to push Boston to the brink of elimination in the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series.
The Red Sox managed just three hits and one walk behind starter Payton Tolle. New York scored seven runs over its final two turns at bat, turning a 2-0 middle-innings lead into a rout. Boston must win Game 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock) to force a deciding Game 3 on Thursday.
Schlittler dominates Red Sox Wild Card Game 1
Adley Rutschman’s first-inning single was Boston’s only hit until Wilyer Abreu singled with one out in the seventh. Schlittler threw 117 pitches, allowed two hits and one walk, and struck out three in the opening frame alone. Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber finished the shutout; Yankees pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts.
Ceddanne Rafaela grounded into a double play to end Boston’s seventh-inning threat while trailing 2-0. Trevor Story’s eighth-inning double was the club’s only extra-base hit; Caleb Durbin flied out to strand him. The Red Sox went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position and left three on base.
Rice’s night and Boston’s thin margin
Tolle kept the opener within reach for 4⅔ innings, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts. Austin Wells’ second-inning RBI single accounted for the only run against him. Rice added a two-out solo homer off Erik Miller in the fifth, then singled home another run in a bases-loaded seventh against Alec Gamboa before a double play scored Wells for 4-0.
The eighth erased any suspense: Wells’ sacrifice fly off Brayan Bello and Rice’s two-out grand slam finished Rice’s 4-for-5 night (double, two homers, six RBIs). George Lombard Jr. had three hits and two runs; Wells added two hits and two RBIs. For Boston, the offensive drought echoed September’s MLB-low run total and the unease around Willson Contreras’ hand injury entering the series.
Elimination stakes for Game 2
Sonny Gray is lined up to start Game 2 opposite Max Fried after leading Boston starters with a 2.72 ERA in the regular season. Roman Anthony exited Game 1 after two at-bats with discomfort in the right hand/wrist area that sidelined him for nearly four months earlier in 2026, leaving his availability uncertain. Manager Chad Tracy did not use Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, or Garrett Crochet in Game 1, keeping high-leverage arms fresh.
The matchup follows Boston’s regular-season close and Yankees Wild Card preview and the earlier path that clinched the No. 5 seed against New York. One win Wednesday keeps October alive; another shutout ends it.
What Boston needs Wednesday
Contact quality, traffic on the bases, and length from Gray are the clearest requirements. Schlittler’s career dominance against the Red Sox—his ERA in six starts versus Boston is now 0.47—set a brutal bar. Fried has been nearly as tough historically (4-1, 1.93 ERA in seven career starts against Boston). The bats that scored an MLB-low 71 runs in September have one more chance to rewrite the series narrative in the Bronx.
Sources: NESN Wild Card Game 1 recap; MLB.com Sonny Gray Game 2 preview.