The Boston Red Sox kicked off the postseason with a whimper on Tuesday night as they fell to the New York Yankees 9-0 in Game 1 of the Wild Card series, setting up a must-win Game 2 on Wednesday night. 

Here's what you need to know about the loss: 

After scoring by far the fewest runs in baseball in September, the Red Sox' offensive struggles continued in Game 1 as they were silenced by likely 2026 American League Cy Young Award winner Cam Schlittler. The 25-year-old native of Walpole, Mass., continued his dominance over his hometown team, tossing 6.2 shutout innings, allowing only two hits, striking out 10 and walking only one. 

It wasn't just Schlittler who kept the Boston bats quiet, though, as New York pitching allowed only four base runners en route to the shutout win. 

As noted by Red Sox Nation Stats on Twitter/X, Schlittler became just the sixth pitcher in postseason history with multiple games of 6.1+ shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, with both occurrences coming against Boston. Schlittler joins Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, and Sandy Koufax as the starters to accomplish the feat. 

With the shutout performance, Schlittler lowered his ERA against the Red Sox to 0.46 in six career starts. 

According to Red Sox Nation Stats, at 23 years old, Tolle became the youngest Red Sox pitcher in the live-ball era (dating back to 1920) to get the start in Game 1 of a postseason series. Despite making both his first playoff start and first start at Yankee Stadium, Tolle looked every bit the part of an ace in the making. 

Tolle allowed only one earned run on five hits across 4.2 innings, striking out four and walking only one. 

Despite Tolle's strong performance, in an effort to avoid New York slugger Ben Rice seeing him for the third time, manager Chad Tracy made his first big move of his postseason career, pulling Tolle at just 83 pitches, turning to reliever Erik Miller to get the final out of the fifth inning. 

After posting a 12.46 ERA in his final five appearances of the regular season, Miller's struggles continued into the playoffs as Rice launched the second pitch he saw, a center-cut cutter, 423 feet to center field to double the New York lead to 2-0. 

It was a rough night at the plate for the 22-year-old phenom, who went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. However, when his turn came up in the lineup a third time in the top of the sixth inning, it was utility man Andruw Monasterio who came to the plate to face Schlittler. 

According to Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald, Anthony was removed from the game after his right hand "flared up" on him. The 22-year-old outfielder missed 101 regular-season games because of a torn ligament in his right ring finger. 

After allowing two earned runs in 2.1 innings in Game 2 of the 2025 Wild Card series, Brayan Bello made his return to the postseason on Tuesday night, where his struggles continued. 

With the New York lead extended to four, 4-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Tracy turned to Bello with the bases loaded and only one out. After allowing an RBI sacrifice fly to Austin Wells, Bello walked first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, reloading the bases for Rice, who launched his second home run of the night, putting the game well out of reach, 9-0. 

Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72 ERA) will get the start for the Red Sox as they look to keep their season alive on Wednesday night. Veteran left-hander Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA) will get the start for New York. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.