Ben Rice did the damage with the bat and Cam Schlittler did the rest from the mound. Together they turned Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series into a one-sided statement at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.
Rice launched two home runs and drove in six as the Yankees pounded the Boston Red Sox, 9-0. Schlittler worked 6 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out 10, allowing just two hits and one walk. New York can clinch an AL Division Series berth against the Tampa Bay Rays with a win Wednesday, or Thursday if a third game is required.
Austin Wells put the Yankees on the board in the second with an RBI single that scored George Lombard Jr. Rice made it 2-0 in the fifth, driving a 423-foot solo shot to center off Erik Miller. He added an RBI single in the seventh to push the lead to 3-0, then finished the night with an eighth-inning grand slam off Brayan Bello that scored Ryan McMahon, Spencer Jones and Paul Goldschmidt and blew the game open.
Schlittler set the tone early and never let Boston breathe. The rookie right-hander piled up strikeouts, kept the Red Sox off the bases, and handed a 2-0 lead to Paul Blackburn, who closed out the shutout. Boston managed only three hits all night.
The Yankees now sit one win from advancing. Game 2 is Wednesday night in the Bronx. A New York victory sends them on to the ALDS against Tampa Bay. If Boston stays alive, the series would return to Yankee Stadium on Thursday.
