September is over and so is Red Sox season. NESN’s wildly hyped “Soxtober” playoff coverage never made it to the 10th month.
Boston baseball’s 2026 thrill ride came to a sad and sloppy conclusion Wednesday in the Bronx as the Yankees completed a two-game Wild Card Series sweep, 9-2, over the punchless Red Sox.
The ’26 Sox were a gift. Chad Tracy’s upstarts saved New England’s summer the way Scotland saved our World Cup. They recovered from a 32-46 start with a record-breaking 32-5 June/July stretch, bringing Fenway to life and creating new interest in a team that features its ancient ballpark as the franchise star.
Unfortunately, the bad Sox re-emerged in September as baseball’s worst-hitting team (.219). That malaise carried into the playoffs, where they scored two runs in 18 innings.
Straight sets, 9-0 and 9-2. An aggregate 18-2. A plus-16 for the Yankees, and a record in the era of the best-of-three wild card format.
Read Dan Shaughnessy's column at BostonGlobe.com/Sports. | 
