NEW YORK — Instant reactions as the Red Sox claw their way to a 3-1 victory over the Yankees in the Game 1 of the Wild Card Series behind Garrett Crochet’s gem, Masataka Yoshida’s pinch-hit heroics and Aroldis Chapman holding on for dear life in the ninth:
1) Alex Cora’s platoon-heavy lineup was predicated on the idea that the Red Sox would try to get something out of the part-time players starting against Max Fried, then have a bench full of lefties who might be able to do damage when Fried exited the game. That’s exactly how it worked out in a game-changing seventh, when Boston flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
After Fried’s night ended when he retired Jarren Duran, the Yankees turned to righty Luke Weaver and the Red Sox got to him fast. Ceddanne Rafaela worked an 11-pitch walk, then switch-hitter Nick Sogard — who hit just .197 against righties in the regular season — placed a double into the right field gap. Cora swapped out Rob Refsnyder for pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida and was instantly rewarded when Yoshida gave Boston the lead with a two-run single up the middle.
It was a reminder of 2018, when Cora seemed to push all the right buttons as the Red Sox won the World Series. Yoshida became the first Red Sox pinch-hitter ever to turn a deficit into a lead in a postseason game.
2) Crochet was himself — and more — after looking like someone else early. He gave up a lot of hard contact (and a solo homer to Anthony Volpe) before settling in and cruising to a dominant Red Sox postseason debut in which he tossed 7 ⅔ innings, allowed just four hits and struck out 11 Yankees.
The only blip was an opposite-field homer by Anthony Volpe that opened the scoring in the second. After that, Crochet was virtually unhittable. He retired 17 in a row from that point on — a stark contrast from the first inning, when the Yankees hit three balls off him at 100 mph or harder, including a somewhat lucky inning-ending double play on a middle-middle pitch Giancarlo Stanton bounced to Trevor Story at 106 mph.
3) The Red Sox didn’t win without some ninth-inning drama. Shortly after Alex Bregman’s RBI double made it a two-run game, closer Aroldis Chapman nearly lit the whole game on fire in uncharacteristic fashion.
New York loaded the bases against him with no outs on singles from Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. Chapman then locked in, striking out Stanton and getting Jazz Chisholm Jr. to fly out to right. He then won a left-on-left battle against Trent Grisham, getting him to chase a 101.2 mph fastball for a game-ending strikeout.
4) Crochet was so good as the outing went on that Cora sent him back out for the eighth inning… at 100 pitches. The lefty struck out Trent Grisham, then after Volpe singled, battled with catcher Austin Wells. On the 117th and final pitch of Crochet’s night (a called third strike), the lefty hit 100.2 mph. It was the perfect exclamation point on a phenomenal evening.
It was Crochet’s longest outing of the season, beating an 112-pitch effort in Atlanta on June 1. He hit the 105-pitch mark for just the second time since June 13.
5) The Red Sox, with an all-important win in Game 1 of a short series, have themselves well-positioned to reach the ALDS against the Blue Jays. One win in the next two games gets them there, and entering this season, all 12 teams that have won Game 1 in three-game Wild Card Series have ended up winning the series.
6) The Yankees loaded up on relievers at the trade deadline, but the group is still unsettled enough for the Red Sox to feel like getting Fried out of the game was the primary goal Tuesday. Some long at-bats, including a nine-pitch Carlos Narváez walk in the sixth, shortened a very good outing for Fried. Things fell apart shortly after he departed.
There were a couple times when Fried lost command, but he was generally dominant in 6⅓ shutout innings. The All-Star lefty held Boston to four hits and struck out six, though he did issue three walks.
Fried stranded six on base during his outing, which was punctuated by an impressive showing of athleticism. Duran grounded a ball toward first and Fried, racing in that direction, beat out the speedster to record a 3-1 putout. His night ended after 102 pitches.
7) Boston’s veteran bats gave the club a big insurance run in the eighth with a two-out rally against David Bednar, Story singled, then stole second and scored when Bregman — in his 100th career postseason game — golfed a low 2-2 splitter into left field for a run-scoring double.
It was Bregman’s 55th career postseason RBI.
8) Even before the ninth, Chapman was a bit shakier than usual in relief of Crochet in the eighth, as he unleashed a wild first pitch then allowed Volpe to take second base by disengaging from the mound three times. The inning-ending out came in somewhat dramatic fashion as Wilyer Abreu cut in front of Rafaela to catch a liner. No harm, no foul.
9) Much was made about Cora’s decision to start Sogard and Nate Eaton, but they gave the Sox more than enough. Sogard had two hits — a single and his big double in the seventh — and Eaton doubled, too. No one would have expected those two to be in the lineup for a playoff game at virtually any point this season. But both guys did their jobs.
10) The Yankees didn’t have home-field advantage in the traditional sense, as it was a late-arriving crowd at Yankee Stadium that only got loud on select occasions. But playing in the Bronx — and not Fenway — paid off in a big way.
Volpe’s second-inning homer off Crochet was a homer in 29 of 30 ballparks, with the exception being Fenway Park, where it would not have cleared the right field fence. The 105.2 mph, 382-foot blast was a no-doubter in the Bronx despite a low arc. At Fenway, it would have been a much different result.
11) The key sequence for Boston’s offense in the early-goings? A Duran at-bat with runners on second and third after Eaton blooped a softly hit double (60.3 mph) into right field with two outs in the fourth. Duran got to a 3-0 count as Fried lost command, then battled back. On a 3-2 pitch, Fried got Duran to chase a sweeper way above the zone for strike three. It looked like an instance of someone simply trying to do too much in the postseason.
That wasn’t the only missed opportunity for the Sox. Bregman grounded out with two men on and two outs in the fifth and Eaton skipped into an inning-ending double play on a 3-2 pitch to end the sixth.
12) Crochet and Aaron Judge, who battled all year, split their face-offs in Game 1. Judge singled in his first at-bat, flew out to left in the third and struck out to end the sixth.
13) Narváez, in addition to calling a great game by Crochet, had an impressive night at the plate, working three walks.
14) The Red Sox will try to clinch a trip to the ALDS and wrap up the best-of-three set with the Yankees in short order Tuesday night behind righty Brayan Bello (11-9, 3.35 ERA), who is making his postseason debut. New York will send lefty Carlos Rodón (18-9, 3.09 ERA) to the mound and Cora is expected to use a similar righty-heavy lineup against him.
First pitch is again at 6:08 p.m. ET with the game airing on ESPN.
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