AL WILD CARD SERIES: RED SOX VS YANKEES

September 30, 2026

Aaron Boone

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Postgame Press Conference

Yankees - 9, Red Sox - 2

Q. Were you surprised by the margins of victory?

AARON BOONE: Yes. As I said, kind of all year but even going into this series, that was a scary team to us, especially as well as they pitch. So for us to have the offensive outbreaks that we had here these last two nights and late, credit to those guys.

That was very satisfying to play that well in these two games. And that's what it was. They played great and beat a really good team that deserves a lot of credit for, was down and out in the middle of the season and fought their way back to being a no-doubt into the playoffs by the end.

Just really pleased with how we played. Obviously, we're really going to enjoy that and excited to get our shot at a really good Tampa club.

Q. The baseball guys usually play to their numbers, but your left-handed batters had a really big series against their left-handed pitchers. Could you sort of speak to how you saw that developing or if there was a reason that you understood it happened?

AARON BOONE: We have some guys that are good left on left. Some of their guys aren't necessarily lefty specialists. There are a couple that were really tough that we had some success against.

I think the experience of playing against that so much this year -- they faced so many guys for months there where we were very left-handed where in the fifth inning every day it was one lefty and then another one because that's how they attack us. So I'd like to think some of that familiarity and reps and all that prepared us well.

I like the balance of our club right now. Again, we played great baseball in a lot of ways here, obviously anchored by our two great starters that got us off on a great foot. But a lot of really good things happened with this group. We get a chance to keep it going.

Q. And also when we talked to you a lot during the week leading up to this about who would start Game 1 of this series and who would start Game 2, you certainly conveyed to us that you were interested in having Schlittler be available to pitch 2 and 5 in the next series if you advanced. What is your thinking on Game 1?

AARON BOONE: We'll talk about that. Obviously, Gerrit's lined up for that. Carlos is very much in play for that. We have a ton of confidence in both guys. I think they're both throwing the ball really well. That will be what we do here these next couple of days as we get ready.

Q. Can you remember a time where you felt better about the rotation? Right now you have four guys that are doing pretty good.

AARON BOONE: There's no question I feel great about those guys, obviously. That's been the biggest strength for us throughout the year. It sustained us. It got us through some difficult times. And I feel like they're all in a good place right now.

That's one of the ways we're going to have to do it, obviously leaning on the strength of those guys. But I like where they're at.

Q. Will they all get a start?

AARON BOONE: It's possible. It's definitely possible. Again, it's a long ways away.

Q. If you watched the whole games and the inning like the sixth, is batter-plate discipline for your guys heightened in these postseason games?

AARON BOONE: I don't know. I mean, since you've known me I've been preaching the heck out of that -- control the strike zone, control the zone. So I want it to always be heightened. We did a great job of that here.

Again, I thought we did a lot of good things offensively, whether it was obviously a couple big long balls, Spencer legs out a strikeout to start the big inning, the stolen base comes into play, we put some balls in play, a couple of really well-computed bunt situations.

I told those guys, we play like that, we have a chance to beat anybody.

We have hopefully a long month in front of us. And we know the next obstacle is a really challenging one with the Rays, but I love how they're playing the game.

Q. You ever have in your career an inning where you struck out twice and scored?

AARON BOONE: Probably. In the regionals my junior year, I led off, I made two outs and walked. I'm assuming I scored.

Q. It's not often that a big rally is triggered by a strikeout. What did do that for you? Particularly address Spencer Jones' hustle in that play.

AARON BOONE: Yeah, great. I mean, I couldn't believe he was there. I saw the ball squirt away a little bit. I didn't think that much of it, and looked up and I was, like, oh, he's safe.

He got down there really good. You guys have covered us have seen Spencer run. When he gets it going, he can really go. But great job there. And then the stolen base gets to third, sets us up to get a tack-on run, and then we get some big plays.