AL Wild Card: Red Sox Eliminate Yankees

October 6, 2021 3:44 am

BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Red Sox have earned themselves a few days in Florida.  The Bosox have moved into the AL Division Series by thumping the Yankees, 6-2 in the wild-card game. Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber belted early homers and Alex Verdugo drove in three runs to back a sterling performance by Nathan Eovaldi.  Bogaerts set the tone with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, two innings before Schwarber’s solo blast. Verdugo padded Boston’s lead with an RBI double and a two-run single.  Eovaldi allowed a run and four hits while striking out eight over 5 1/3 innings, blanking New York until Anthony Rizzo homered in the sixth.  Gerrit Cole was pulled with two on and no out in the third, charged with three runs and four hits.  Giancarlo Stanton had three of New York’s six hits, including a ninth-inning homer.  The ALDS begins Thursday in St. Petersburg as the Bosox take on the league-leading Tampa Bay Rays.