Red Sox Set New Franchise-Worst Playoff Scoring Drought vs. Yankees

They finally scored. Does it matter?

Sep 30, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) hits a single in the first inning against the New York Yankees during game two of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mercifully, at long last, the Boston Red Sox put up a run.

They got shut out on Tuesday in Game 1 against the New York Yankees. They'd been shut out in Game 3 of last year's Wild Card Series, also in the Bronx. That meant it had been 364 days since Boston scored in the postseason, and as Wednesday's Game 2 wore on, it was beginning to look like they might never score again.

Then, Willson Contreras hit a rope line drive to right field against Yankees starter Max Fried, and at long last, the Sox were off the hook.

Red Sox's longest playoff scoring drought: 26 2/3 innings

Sep 29, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) reacts after striking out during the first inning of game one of the Wildcard round of the 2026 MLB Playoffs against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When Contreras' shot cleared the right-center field railing by less than a foot, the Red Sox had their first run in the playoffs since the seventh inning of Game 2 last year. The streak lasted 26 2/3 innings, which the NBC broadcast quickly confirmed was the longest playoff scoring drought in franchise history.

Willson Contreras gets JUST enough for a home run

Red Sox cut the deficit in half! pic.twitter.com/BU0kUcIm8d

— MLB (@MLB) October 1, 2026

In that time frame, Cam Schlittler personally struck out 22 Red Sox batters, Boston had only nine hits (before the home run), and the Red Sox remained the only team since the postseason format expanded to lose a Wild Card Series after winning Game 1. The Chicago White Sox made it 16-for-17 on Wednesday by punching their ticket to the Division Series.

There's not much to say at this point. Contreras has one healthy hand, yet it was clear from the first time through the order on Wednesday that if he didn't put runs across, no one else was going to. We saw this team limp through September offensively and hoped against hope that they'd figure it out when the games started to matter again.

We were wrong, plain and simple.

As we sat here getting this story to post, the Red Sox started collapsing in the bottom of the sixth inning. It's not like we should have trusted them to erase a one-run deficit, anyway. But unless something changed dramatically shortly after this was published, the Boston bats seemingly proved to be the downfall. Or, like, one in a long series of downfalls.