There obviously are plenty of Yankees fans who aren’t enamored with Aaron Boone’s managerial body of work, but let’s give the man some flowers here for his and his team’s performance in their wild-card series blowout of the Red Sox.
Boone, still looking for his first World Series title in nine seasons on the job, managed circles around Boston’s Chad Tracy in the two-game sweep in The Bronx. That is indisputable.
Tracy’s hiring after Alex Cora was canned in April following a 10-17 start was largely credited with the Red Sox’s 32-5 run that vaulted them back into playoff position this summer. But he looked like a panicked manager in quick-hooking starters Payton Tolle and Sonny Gray with matching 1-0 deficits in the fifth inning of each game — only to watch the Yankees hammer his bullpen for an 18-2 aggregate drubbing in their two wins.
Boone certainly benefitted from starters Cam Schlittler and Max Fried pitching to a 0.73 ERA with one run allowed over a combined 12 ⅓ innings.
