Red Sox, Phillies Fatal Flaws in Wild-Card Series

The Red Sox and Phillies shared a few similarities during the regular season. Besides being teams in passionate northeast cities, they were also teams that turned things around under new managers after rough starts. Ultimately, they both made some bad choices during their respective Wild Card Series, leading to disappointing postseason outcomes.

They also shared another similar component, because both teams were hoping to avoid being among the four clubs to be weeded out in the best-of-three wild-card series.

This year, homefield advantage meant more than it has in any other season since the wild-card format began in 2022. Three of the four teams with it advanced, with the one loser being the 81-81 Astros, who simply had it because they won the AL West by default.

The Red Sox and Phillies also may have done specific things that sabotaged their aspirations of advancing into the main draw.

Red Sox Pull Starters Payton Tolle and Sonny Gray Too Early

The Red Sox never held a lead while getting outscored 18-2 in a beatdown by the Yankees, but they made things a little easier for their opponents with aggressive pitching strategies that backfired in a massive way.

In Game 1 on Sept. 29, the personable Tolle was pulled after facing 19 hitters and throwing 83pitches in 4 2/3 innings. The reason was that Ben Rice was looming for a third time and had already doubled off Tolle in the opening moments of the game.

Tolle’s replacement was lefty reliever Erik Miller, which in many ways was a perfectly normal move on the surface. Miller allowed lefties a .195 average and one homer in 96 plate appearances, but recency bias did not come into play since his 12.46 ERA in the final five appearances and a 7.56 ERA in the final nine appearances was clearly not taken into consideration.

Miller’s first few pitches resulted in Rice home runs, and the Yankees were on their way to turning things into a rout and putting Boston’s backs against the wall.

A night later, 18-game winner Sonny Gray was pitching in a 1-0 game and seemingly would have more leeway for the length of his outing, especially since he held hitters to a .180 average in the dreaded third time through the order.

At that point, he only allowed a homer to Luis Garcia but after Rice singled, manager Chad Tracy popped out of the dugout and made the move. Many reactions were incredulous and the Yankees were certainly ready to pounce, especially when Miller was the replacement

Two pitches later, the Yankees had a 2-0 lead, and for the sixth, the Red Sox went to Garrett Crochet for his first appearance since April 25 — the day Alex Cora was fired.

By the time the inning was over, the Yankees held a seven-run lead, and the only suspense left was how much champagne and beer was going to be sprayed in the postgame celebration for the Yankees.