In the second encounter between the longtime foes, the Yankees edged out a 4-3 win, forcing a winner-takes-all Game 3 on Thursday. Red Sox starter Brayan Bello lasted only 2 1/3 innings before giving way to a left-handed reliever. From that point on, manager Alex Cora kept calling on a rotating cast of characters from the bullpen. In contrast, during the opening game, the Red Sox only needed starter Garrett Crochet and reliever Aroldis Chapman. While Crochet threw 7 2/3 innings of one-run baseball, Chapman got the final four outs. Now, for the upcoming game 3, Cora is betting on Boston’s $18.75 million weapon.

The southpaw rookie Connelly Early will get the ball in the decisive Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series. When Alex Cora was asked his pitching plan for Thursday, he said, “Connelly is going to spike.” Early will become just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to make a winner-take-all Game within his first five MLB appearances. He’ll be opposing fellow rookie Cam Schlittler, holding only 14 MLB appearances to his name.

“Obviously, it is going to be loud here. Two rookies, Game 3, Wild Card, Yankees-Red Sox. Imagine that. Should be a fun night,” said Cora for Schlittler and Early.

Well, it’s going to be a big night for Early. He earned the spot after notching a 2.33 ERA in his first four starts of the regular season. He was called up to fill in for Dustin May, who, by the way, still hasn’t returned.

While confirming Early’s appearance in game 3, Alex Cora also opened up about reliever Garrett Whitlock. On Wednesday, he threw a season-high 47 pitches in the Red Sox’s 4-3 loss to the Yankees in Game 2. So, while others like Wilson, Slaten, Matz, Kelly, and Tolle will be available for Thursday, Whitlock might not be.

“We’ll check with [Whitlock]; he’ll get a lot of treatment and we’ll see where we’re at tomorrow, but the rest are in good shape,” Cora said. Apparently, the last time he exceeded 30 pitches was back on June 23, and his season high count entering the game was 43, which he threw on April 6.

Why did Garrett Whitlock lift heavy in the Yankees-Red Sox game 2

On Wednesday night, the right-hander did a lot more than usual. The game was tied at 3-3 when he pitched a clean seventh inning, and then in the eighth, he retired two batters before walking Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Across Whitlock’s 38 regular-season appearances, he had recorded more than five outs in an outing just one time. And after this game, he admitted, “Felt good. Got tired towards the end but thought I made some good pitches and they did a good job.” Despite pitching longer than usual, Whitlock expressed that his mindset didn’t change; all he wanted to do was to get more outs until “AC comes to take the ball away from me.” He said.

Whitlock fell behind Austin Wells 3-1 before walking Chisholm on seven pitches. For that, he said that he had lost his command. Across Garrett Whitlock’s last 31 outings, he had held a 0.30 ERA and given up one earned run across 30 innings.

Although he faltered in the eighth inning, in the first game, the Red Sox shut down the Yankees’ lineup and limited them to just one run on seven hits with no walks. Now game 3 will tell the rest! If the Red Sox want to beat the Yankees, they can’t let them hit the ball!