New York Yankees claim win over heated rivals Boston Red Sox in wildcard series opener

[p]At New York, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rice-ben/SEr5lgvs/"]Rice[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/baseball/boston-red-sox-zaXTinF3/new-york-yankees-SrC4LDIT/?mid=nTRYvyae"]smashed a grand slam and a solo homer[/a] while right-hander [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schlittler-cam/MuCjCJ2E/"]Schlittler[/a] mystified the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/boston-red-sox/zaXTinF3/"]Red Sox[/a], striking out 10 while allowing only two hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a masterpiece 9-0 shutout.[/p][p]"[b]Just thrilled it left the yard to get four runs,[/b]" Rice said of his grand slam. "[b]This is what you dream about, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-york-yankees/SrC4LDIT/"]Yankees[/a]-Red Sox playoff game in New York.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="facbd43d-8c73-4b6d-a8a5-ae4fe9b3e8da" url="https://x.com/MLB/status/2105132545977536633?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]New York seized a 1-0 lead in their AL series, with the winner facing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tampa-bay-rays/GCHgI4hp/"]Tampa Bay[/a] in round two.[/p][p]The Yankees, missing slugger [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/judge-aaron/WSFM7DfK/"]Aaron Judge[/a] due to a calf strain, saw Rice homer in the fifth, single home a run in the seventh and smash a bases-loaded homer in the eighth.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wells-austin/lEGjDIqO/"]Austin Wells[/a] drove in two runs, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-luis/UywRVrs0/"]Luis Garcia[/a] plated a run hitting into a double play and Schlittler threw a career-high 117 pitches to silence Red Sox hitters.[/p]