What to Know
- The Red Sox won 3-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Wild Card Series.
- Game 1 featured aces Garrett Crochet and Max Fried on the mound. They both came as advertised, but Fried was pulled too soon, and it cost the Yankees.
- Alex Cora had a tremendous night, as Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard delivered hits, and Masataka Yoshida delivered the game-winning runs as a pinch-hitter.
- Boston will go for the series sweep in Game 2 on Wednesday at 6:08 p.m. ET
The Boston Red Sox. The New York Yankees. Yankee Stadium. On the eve of October.
This was a game that came with a lot of hype. And it sure delivered.
Yankees ace Max Fried was nearly perfect. Garrett Crochet was nearly just as good. And the late-inning soap opera that played out at Yankee Stadium was one for the ages.
First, Aaron Boone pulled Fried with one out in the seventh. The Red Sox immediately pounced, with Masataka Yoshida delivering a pinch-hit, two-RBI single to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
Crochet, whose lone blemish was an early solo home run allowed against Anthony Volpe, was cruising, and Alex Cora rode his ace all the way into the eighth inning. Crochet’s streak of 17 straight batters retired was ended by a Volpe single, but Crochet came back to strike out Austin Wells — Crochet’s 11 punchout of the night — for the second out of the eighth.
Cora called upon Aroldis Chapman in the eighth, and in the top of the ninth, Trevor Story singled and then stole second before Alex Bregman delivered an important insurance run with a double to left field.
The game appeared to be wrapped, but Chapman created quite the issue by letting the Yankees load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth.
But Chapman refocused, striking out Giancarlo Stanton, inducing a weak flyout from Jazz Chisholm, and striking out Trent Grisham to end the game.
It was an incredibly dramatic postseason affair, and it sets the Red Sox up to have the chance to go for a sweep on Wednesday in New York.
Check out our live blog below for a full recap of a remarkable victory for Boston.
