Chandler Simpson (foot) unlikely to play in finale

That was the easy guess, unfortunately. Anthony, who missed much of the year after suffering a partial tendon tear in his right ring finger in May, might have originally aggravated things during Sunday’s game. It’s unclear if he’ll be an option Wednesday, but really, the bigger concern at this point might be 2027 and beyond.

Rice took Red Sox lefty reliever Erik Miller deep for a 423-foot blast to straightaway center field with two outs in the fifth inning to give New York a commanding 2-0 advantage with ace Cam Schlittler completely shutting down Boston’s offense. He supplied another insurance run with a bases-loaded RBI single to right field off lefty reliever Alec Gamboa in the seventh inning. Rice had a chance to do even more damage when he came to the plate with the bases loaded again in the ensuing frame, and he didn’t waste it, crushing a grand slam to center field off righty Brayan Bello to complete the multi-homer performance. The Cohasset, Massachusetts native recorded four batted balls with exit velocities over 100 mph as the Yankees cruised to a comfortable win without injured franchise cornerstone Aaron Judge (calf).

Boston’s inability to score runs during the final month of the regular season carried over into the postseason as they were unable to manufacture anything against Yankees ace Cam Schlittler, who held them scoreless into the seventh inning, as they finished with just three hits in the entire contest.

Schlittler authored another dominant performance against his hometown team, retiring 13 consecutive batters following a one-out single from Adley Rutschman in the opening frame. The hard-throwing 25-year-old rising superstar hit triple digits on six occasions and generated an eye-popping 24 swinging strikes, including 14 on his fastball alone. He also leaned heavily on his curveball in this one, throwing it a career-high 32 times. He was lifted from the contest after surrendering a one-out single to Wilyer Abreu in the seventh inning on his career-high 117th pitch of the night. Schlittler has been nearly untouchable on the postseason stage, allowing just two earned runs with a 24/1 K/BB ratio across 20 2/3 innings over three starts in the last two years.

Tolle didn’t look overmatched in his first career postseason start on the road at Yankee Stadium, but he was ultimately outdueled by his New York counterpart Cam Schlitter, who posted 10 strikeouts over 6 1/3 shutout frames. The 23-year-old southpaw did enough to keep the Red Sox within striking distance in the middle innings as an RBI single from Austin Wells with two outs in the third inning accounted for all of the damage against him. He finished with four strikeouts and only issued one walk. He would get the nod for Game 1 of the AL Division Series if the Red Sox find a way to rally in the best-of-three showdown in New York.

It’s a bit unclear whether Anthony is actually injured, but he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning after striking out twice against Yankees ace Cam Schlittler to open the contest. It’s worth noting that he looked a bit uncomfortable on an awkward swing during Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Cubs at Tropicana Field. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

Brown gives Houston their best chance to send the best-of-three showdown to a winner-take-all finale where anything can happen following a loss in the series opener. The 28-year-old ace will get the ball on just four days of rest after throwing 100 pitches last Friday in his final regular-season outing.

Antonacci scored Chicago’s first run of the contest when he drew a leadoff walk against Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh before crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly from Munetaka Murakami. He padded Chicago’s early lead with a bases-loaded single to left field that brought home a pair of runs. He was also hit by a pitch, reaching base safely in half of his four plate appearances before being lifted for a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. They’ll attempt to close out the best-of-three series at Daikin Park on Wednesday.

Velázquez put Houston on the scoreboard with a pinch-hit blast against White Sox reliever Sean Newcomb that slashed their early deficit to three runs in the fifth inning. The 27-year-old corner outfielder has seen opportunities against lefties since being claimed off waivers back in early August.

Murakami opened the scoring with an RBI sacrifice fly in his first career postseason at-bat before helping to manufacture two additional runs when he reached base and came around to score in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively. The 26-year-old rookie slugger finished the regular season with 35 home runs in 553 plate appearances, effectively silencing any fantasy analysts who questioned whether his contact issues would hold him back in his big-league debut.