The New York Yankees missed a golden opportunity to snatch a 1-0 series lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League Wild Card series, and found themselves on the wrong side of history in the process.
The Yankees fell by a score of 3-1 to the Red Sox in Game 1. However, the Yankees had Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman on the ropes in the bottom of the ninth inning, as New York started the inning with three straight singles to load the bases with no one out.
Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham all failed to get the job done, leaving the bases stranded and putting the Yankees on the brink of elimination.
Yankees one of just two teams in playoff history to abandon the bases loaded in the ninth inning
Per Stats Perform’s Greg Harvey, the Yankees are just the second team in MLB playoff history to have the bases loaded with 0 outs while trailing in 9th inning or later and proceed to score 0 runs, the other being the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, when they too left the bases juiced in a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLDS.
Of course, the Phillies rebounded nicely, eventually winning the World Series in 2008. It’s too soon to say whether the Yankees can repeat that success, but they’ll look to keep their season alive in Game 2 on Wednesday to avoid an early playoff exit.