Yankees Reliever Reacts to 'Dream Come True' Against Red Sox

In a two-out-of-three series, sometimes games are won in the margins. Especially when it's the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in the postseason, who, for the last two decades, have always had tight battles.

The baseball world witnessed it in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Aaron Boone's heroics continued one of the most prolonged droughts in sports at that point. They saw another one a year later in Game 4, where Dave Roberts' stolen base swung the entire series. Game two of the Wild Card series had all the high-rise tight rope acts of those games, even if the faces changed. Just ask Fernando Cruz about that

Cruz watched as a 102.3 MPH rocket come off Trevor Story's bat and fall into the glove of Trent Grisham. The ball died at the wall, short of 400 feet, and on the mound, Cruz celebrated, showing the same emotion fans have come to love all season in his first year in the Bronx.

Fernando Cruz is all @Yankees fans right now!#Postseason pic.twitter.com/clwLSNXoNo
— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2025

After the game, Cruz was asked about that euphoric moment on the mound. It wasn't just the result of the outing, Cruz explained, but also something that had been in his life since he was a young baseball fan in Puerto Rico.

"This is something that I've been dreaming and imagining since I've been a little kid," Cruz said. "This is something that I dreamed about, and emotion is gonna come out. I'm an emotional guy. I'm passionate about what I do, and I love what I do. I love doing it for my guys, and it's time to make that notable."

"It's time to compete. It's time to be you vs. me and me vs. you." 🔥

- Fernando Cruz on his fiery reaction after throwing a key scoreless inning in Game 2 pic.twitter.com/w3f6INNf9F
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 2, 2025

Cruz made two big outs before things got dicey. The first one came when the speedster Ceddanne Rafaela, with impeccable glove work, flubbed a blunt, which slowly dropped into the glove of a leaping Cruz. Next, Nick Sogard meekly flew out to Cody Bellinger.

Cruz was all over the place in his at-bat with Masataka Yoshida. It was here that the game nearly came to a loss.

Cruz threw a splitter, slider, and fastball that were nowhere near the plate. He brought a 3-0 count to 3-2 before Yoshida hit a rocket up the middle. It was similar to the one he hit the night before off of Luke Weaver. This time, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was able to make a brilliant defensive play to keep the ball in the infield, saving the Yankees from falling behind in this do-or-die game.

The bases were loaded, but Boston missed out on a chance to take the lead and potentially the series. In the WFAN booth, Emmanuel Berbari noted that the Boston front office, which had been stationed next to him and Dave Sims, was deflated after Chisholm's web gem.

After that came the long Story flyout. Those two moments ended up being Boston's last shot at taking the series in game two.

Oct 1, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Fernando Cruz (63) reacts after the top of the seventh inning of game two of the Wildcard round of the 2025 MLB playoffs against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

After the win, the captain, Aaron Judge, gave high praise to Cruz, acknowledging his lifelong fandom of the Yankees.

"He's always wanted to be a Yankee. He expressed that right when he got traded over here, that he was so excited to be here, always been a fan."

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!