Aaron Boone should be thanking the Yankees for bailing out his Game 2 disasterclass

The New York Yankees led at three different points in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card series, narrowly escaping the back-and-forth affair with a 4-3 victory. That sets up a winner-takes-all Game 3 in the Bronx on Thursday night. It's probably the biggest game of the MLB season to date — a do-or-die showdown between the two biggest rivals in American professional sports.

This was an impressive effort from the Yankees, full of guts. But it was also a minor miracle that New York managed to escape with their season intact. Aaron Boone did everything possible to put the Boston Red Sox in an advantageous position, overcorrecting after Game 1 miscues and just plain misallocating bullpen resources. But it all worked out in the end, so it's hard to get too worked up about things.

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Yankees save Aaron Boone from offseason of ridicule with Game 2 win

Let's rewind the tape a bit. New York mysteriously left sluggers Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm out of the lineup in Game 1. Well, it wasn't really a mystery; Boone was playing the matchups against power lefty Garrett Crochet. But he was overthinking it: You put your best hitters in the lineup, point blank. The Yankees also yanked Max Fried after 6.1 scoreless innings, only for Luke Weaver (whose ERA since Sept. 1 is 9.64) to promptly give up the lead, which New York would fail to reclaim.

That put Boone under fire ahead of Game 2. Yankees fans were getting antsy, and an 0-2 series loss to Boston of all teams might push a lot of folks over the edge. Boone attempted to learn from his mistakes, but in reality, he just made different mistakes.

Carlos Rodón gave up four hits and three walks in 6.0 innings on the mound. Trevor Story came through with a two-RBI single in the third inning and a solo home run in the sixth inning. Rather than taking Rodón out after he blew a lead in the sixth, however, Boone trotted him back out on the mound for the seventh inning.

That's when it (almost) went to crap. Rodón walked Nate Eaton to lead off the inning. No bullpen call. Then he drilled Jarren Duran to put two on, nobody out. That's when Boone finally gave in and brought Fernando Cruz, with his perfectly adequate 3.56 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, out of the 'pen.

Cruz was not New York's best option in such a high-leverage spot. He immediately got a couple pop-ups, however, and it seemed like Cruz might get out of the inning. Then came a two-out infield single from Masataka Yoshida, which loaded the bases (and fulfilled the three batters faced requirement for Cruz, allowing Boone to dip back into the bullpen for a fresh, top-shelf arm). Only he didn't call the bullpen for someone like closer David Bednar. He led Cruz — a pitcher whose bugaboo has been a penchant for walks all year — face Trevor Story, who drove in all three Red Sox runs, with the bases loaded.

It ended well. Story skied it out to center and Cruz was ... excited.

There are simple arguments on both ends here. "It worked, so why are you complaining?" Or, "David Bednar could have blown it, nothing is guaranteed with a high-leverage arm." Both are true, to a certain extent. But here's what I'll say: We shouldn't let clear managerial mistakes slide just because Boone gets lucky.

You cannot build a compelling statistical argument for hanging Rodón out to dry in the seventh inning with a 3-3 tie. You also cannot really make the case for Cruz finishing that inning, unless you want to deploy old-school, "have faith in your guy" logic. Which, sure, fine. It did work out! But there were clearly ways for Boone to better play the odds here. Maybe those "better" options don't actually work out, but that sort of circular logic leads us nowhere. Sports are weird, but that does not absolve you from making bad decisions and narrowly skirting around months of criticism.

If the Yankees show up and handle business in Game 3, this is a team that can press deep into the postseason. No doubt about it. But if the Red Sox win, just know Boone will be right back under the microscope.