Red Sox use 7 pitchers in their AL Wild Card Game 2 loss to the Yankees

“We were doing everything possible to get to the top of the ninth with a tie game,” Cora said. “We were trying to win that game, and it didn’t happen.”

Boston did not announce a starter in advance for Game 3, if necessary. Cora said after the game that 23-year-old rookie Connelly Early, who has made four major league starts, would get the nod.

“It comes down to this game, and I’m excited to get out there," said Early, who learned of the news from pitching coach Andrew Bailey right around the time Cora announced it. "I’ve stuck to all my preparation and feel pretty good, so I’m ready to go out there and do it.”

Early is the first pitcher to start a winner-take-all postseason game within 30 days of his major league debut. With Cam Schlittler going for New York, it's the first playoff game in history between two starters with 15 or fewer career appearances apiece.

“Two rookies, Game 3, Wild Card, Yankees-Red Sox,” Cora said. “Imagine that.”

In the series-opening win Tuesday, Boston only needed starter Garrett Crochet, who threw 7 2/3 innings of one-run baseball, and closer Aroldis Chapman, who got the final four outs — including escaping from loading the bases with no outs in the ninth. That luxury allowed Cora to dig deep into his bullpen, even if it wasn't his plan going in.

Bello, who also was making his first playoff start in the majors, allowed a two-run home run to Ben Rice among his four hits in 2 1/3 innings. Cora thought New York's lefty-heavy lineup was putting together better at-bats against the righty and decided to make a move before the score got out of hand.

“I felt like, at that point, kind of like, ‘We have to do this,’” Cora said. “It doesn’t feel good because you want the kid to go out there and get his experience and pitch deep into the game. But I felt like, at that moment, we needed to pivot.”

The matchup gamble paid off, with lefty reliever Justin Wilson getting out of the jam in the third and recording five outs. Justin Slaten, Steven Matz, Zack Kelly and Garrett Whitlock followed — and for much of the game, it was working.

“They have a good bullpen, and they tried run something there,” Yankees starter Carlos Rodón said. “They threw the ball well. They kept the game close.”

It got away from Whitlock in the eighth, when he walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. and allowed a go-ahead RBI single down the right-field line to Austin Wells. His 47 pitches were more than any appearance during the regular season, and Cora explained trusting Whitlock as being “all in."

“I got tired towards the end, but I thought I made some good pitches and they did a good job,” Whitlock said. “I definitely lost command, and unfortunately that happened.”

Cora made one more call to bring in Payton Tolle, who kept the deficit at one, but the Red Sox went down in order in the ninth against Yankees closer David Bednar. Chapman got up a couple of times but not to enter the game in any situation that materialized.

"It was either up the ninth or not bring him in at all," Cora said, adding that the team will check on Whitlock and that every other reliever should be available Thursday. One of Boston's most reliable relievers did not rule out going back on the mound if asked.

“I mean, I’m definitely not going to take the ball out of my own hand," Whitlock said.

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