‘Bizarre year;’ Red Sox Game 1 hero ‘challenges’ Aaron Judge — and wins

NEW YORK — Nick Sogard was batting .188 for Triple-A Worcester on May 9.

On the final day of September, he helped the Red Sox win 3-1 over the Yankees in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s been a bizarre year for me,” Sogard admitted.

Sogard’s hustling double in the seventh inning helped turn Boston’s 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.

“Sogie was frickin’ amazing,” manager Alex Cora said.

Ceddanne Rafaela drew an 11-pitch walk against Yankees right-handed reliever Luke Weaver with one out in the seventh. Sogard then connected on a changeup from Weaver and sent it to right field for what first looked like a single.

But the utility man took off for second with right fielder Aaron Judge fielding the ball slowly and extended his hit into a double. Rafaela advanced to third. Masataka Yoshida drove them both home with a pinch-hit two-run single.

“It kind of took a while to field it,” Sogard said. “And Judge fielded it moving away from second base, and I just tried to challenge the arm in that spot.”

The Red Sox discussed challenging Judge’s arm in their pregame preparation. The star has dealt with a right flexor strain this season.

“That’s preparation. We talk about their outfielders and what we can or what we cannot do, and he saw it right away and took advantage of it,” Cora said.

Trevor Story called Sogard’s hustling double both “huge” and “awesome.”

“Our coaches prepare us well to be able to make plays like that and give us the confidence to do it,” Story said. “He had the best read. The guy who hits the ball usually has the best read off the bat. … It was a great play, man. An aggressive play.”

Sogard’s 2025 season began with him going 19-for-101 (.188) in his first 28 games for Worcester.

“A lot of lessons I think I’ve learned — and to be here in this spot now feels good,” he said. “I feel like it’s kind of where I belong.”

Sogard moved between Worcester and Boston five times, spending the majority of the season with the WooSox. He began to heat up offensively in June. He enjoyed his best month in August with a .348 batting average, .463 slugging percentage, .472 on-base percentage and .935 OPS in 110 plate appearances for the WooSox.

“I think it’s more of a mental thing than anything physical,” he said. “Just kind of a little bit of a challenging year on the mental side, but just settling in and then just playing ball and then everything is kind of taking care of itself.”

The Red Sox promoted Sogard for a fifth time this season Sept. 3 when they placed star rookie Roman Anthony on the IL with a left oblique strain.

Sogard has played in fewer regular season major league games (61) than his teammate Alex Bregman has played postseason games (100). But the utility player wasn’t necessarily surprised to be in the Game 1 starting lineup.

“I think lately just with where the roster has been at, I’ve been starting at second against most lefties,” Sogard said. “We haven’t had a lefty in like two weeks. But that’s not my decision to make. Whenever I’m in there, great. And if not, then I’m helping out, cheering on the guys.”

Sogard had two of Boston’s eight hits.

“I’m happy for him because I know the type of guy he is. I know the type of player he is,” Story said. “He’s a really good player, man. … Makes aggressive plays. Always is thinking. Always has his head in the game. Always makes the right play. Those guys are valuable, especially as we’ve seen in postseason baseball.”

Sogard grew up a Red Sox fan because his father is from the area. His father attended Game 1.

“My dad brought me to this stadium when I was a kid to watch Red Sox-Yankees games,” Sogard said. “And wearing my (Dustin) Pedroia jersey. So to be out there playing second tonight was a pretty cool thing.”