Red Sox admit Yankee Stadium's raucous crowd affected key play in Game 3

Cam Schlittler gave the New York Yankees offense an easy assignment in Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series. With a beyond-dominant Schlittler allowing zero earned runs in eight innings, all the Yankees had to do was cross home plate once, or maybe twice, to keep David Bednar’s heart rate low for a close.

The Yankees managed more than that, scoring four runs. What’s more, they tallied all four in a single inning (the bottom of the fourth), an achievement that was greatly aided by an ear-splitting Yankees crowd in the Bronx.

Yankees fans attending Game 3 legitimately launched New York’s series-winning rally in the fourth inning

New York’s barrage of runs in the fourth all began with a harmless pop fly from Cody Bellinger that turned into a disaster for the Boston Red Sox. 

Everything was going smoothly for Boston up until that point. Rookie starting pitcher Connelly Early appeared utterly unfazed by the moment. He was 50 pitches into Game 3 and had not allowed a run against the Yankees’ dangerous and powerful lineup.

That’s when Early, facing a full count against Bellinger, delivered an effective, 93 PMH sinker in on the hands of the left-handed slugger, who popped the ball up into shallow right-center field.

As three Red Sox fielders took to tracking the ball’s flight through the Bronx sky — Romy González from second base, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu from center field and right field, respectively — Yankees fans grew in snarling volume with each millisecond as it quickly appeared that none of the three Red Sox fielders were confident about making the play.

González was the first to bow out from the chase as both Rafaela and Abreu converged on the rapidly falling baseball. Ultimately, Abreu slammed on the brakes at the last moment to allow Rafaela to dive headfirst for the catch, but the normally elite center fielder botched the play, and Bellinger landed at second base.

Subsequent replay inspection revealed that Rafaela had taken an odd, winding route to the ball, which contributed to the mess. However, a postgame remark from Abreu added a new twist to the failed play that will delight Yankees fans for years to come. According to Abreu, he and Rafaela couldn’t hear each other during the play due to the volume inside Yankee Stadium.

“It’s hard to say (what happened on the play) because it was too loud, so we couldn’t hear,” Abreu said, per SNY. When asked if he called out the fly ball as his own, Abreu replied, “Not really.”

In the end, it doesn’t really matter if it was Abreu's or Rafaela’s fault. What’s important to Red Sox fans — and the reason they will be shaking their heads about the play for a long time — is that Bellinger’s faux double led to four more runs in the inning, which effectively ended Boston’s season.

Giancarlo Stanton walked. Amed Rosario drove in Bellinger with a single. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, loading the bases. Anthony Volpe singled, scoring Stanton and giving New York a 2-0 lead. Then, Austin Wells rocketed a grounder to the right side of the infield, and a slightly more forgivable error by Boston (this time, Nathaniel Lowe on a tough hop) allowed the speedy Chisholm and Rosario to score.

Four runs were more than Schlittler and the Yankees needed to advance to the ALDS, where they’ll continue to lean on their passionate (and incredibly loud) fans during crucial moments.