Garrett Crochet had ice in his veins, and Masataka Yoshida had the swing that silenced Yankee Stadium. The Boston Red Sox grabbed the upper hand in their American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night, beating the rival New York Yankees 3-1 in the Bronx behind Crochet’s sparkling pitching and Yoshida’s go-ahead hit.
Crochet, the 25-year-old left-hander making his first postseason start, was dominant. He allowed only four hits — including Anthony Volpe’s solo homer in the second inning — while striking out 11 and walking none over 7 2/3 innings. After Volpe’s blast, Crochet retired 17 consecutive Yankees, mowing through the lineup with a mix of overpowering fastballs and biting sliders. His final pitch, a 100.2 mph heater, froze Austin Wells for a called strike three.
It was a performance for the record books: Crochet’s 117 pitches were the most in a postseason game since Washington’s Stephen Strasburg threw the same total in the 2019 NLCS. More importantly, he improved to 4-0 against New York this year, continuing a run of dominance over Boston’s biggest rival.
The Red Sox trailed 1-0 until the seventh inning, when the Yankees’ shaky bullpen faltered again. Max Fried, New York’s ace lefty, had thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings before turning the ball over with one on. Luke Weaver entered and immediately unraveled. He walked rookie Ceddanne Rafaela on 11 pitches, then gave up a double to Nick Sogard that Judge failed to cut off in center. That set the stage for Yoshida, who came off the bench and lined a two-run single up the middle on a letter-high fastball.
Just like that, Boston led 2-1. The Red Sox tacked on an insurance run in the ninth when Alex Bregman, playing in his 100th career postseason game, laced an RBI double off David Bednar. That extra cushion proved critical.
In the bottom half, the Yankees mounted one last desperate rally. Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger all singled to load the bases with nobody out against Boston closer Aroldis Chapman, facing his old team in the highest of pressure moments.
But Chapman, the seven-time All-Star, found another gear. He struck out Giancarlo Stanton with a 101 mph fastball, got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to pop out to shallow left, and then fanned Trent Grisham on another blazing heater to close it out. Chapman let out a primal yell as the Red Sox celebrated around him.
With the victory, Boston improved to 10-4 against New York this season and has now won nine of the last 10 postseason meetings between the storied rivals. History is also on Boston’s side: in all 12 previous Wild Card Series since the format began, the team that won Game 1 has advanced — 10 of those in sweeps.
For the Yankees, the frustration continued. Their bullpen, which ranked 23rd in MLB with a 4.37 ERA during the regular season, couldn’t hold a slim lead, while their offense managed just one run outside of Volpe’s early homer.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday night in the Bronx, with Judge and the Yankees needing a win to avoid elimination and force a decisive Game 3. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are one victory away from advancing and continuing their October magic.
