Perhaps the stakes and the atmosphere of October baseball will snap the Yankees to attention. Or remedial fielding drills could do the trick.
Then again, maybe Brian McCann’s bat will erase any shortcomings. It did Tuesday night, when McCann ripped a run-scoring double to put the Yankees ahead and then blasted a three-run homer deep into the right-field bleachers to ensure a 13-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees got a sharp performance from Masahiro Tanaka, Mark Teixeira bumped his Anerican League-leading R.B.I. total to 76 with a pair of run-scoring singles and Dellin Betances delivered a crucial strikeout — all of which took place before the Yankees bludgeoned the Red Sox’ bullpen during a nine-run seventh inning.