Yankees' bullpen coughs up lead, spoil Max Fried's gem in Game 1 loss to Red Sox

Max Fried delivered the kind of high-level start that befits a $218-million ace and departed Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series with his Yankees ahead of the Red Sox. But the Yankee bullpen – one of their potential postseason danger zones – blew the lead. 

Now the Yanks face elimination in their own ballpark. 

Boston beat the Yankees, 3-1, Tuesday night in the opener of this best-of-three affair, which means the Sox can advance by beating the Yanks again in Game 2 Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. 

Luke Weaver came in with one out and nobody on in the seventh and did not have it. He gave up two runs, squandering a 1-0 lead. That meant the Yanks had to try to rally against Boston ace Garrett Crochet, who was amazing. 

Here are the takeaways…

-The Yankees ranked 23rd in MLB in relief ERA during the regular season, despite some talented arms, trade-deadline additions and role shifts. No wonder it was a source of such consternation through the summer. Yankee manager Aaron Boone doubtless will be second-guessed for taking out Fried for a reliever when he did, even if Fried had thrown 102 pitches. Fried only exceeded that number eight times during the regular season, when his high was 111. David Bednar gave up a Boston insurance run on an RBI double by Alex Bregman in the ninth.

-In the bottom of the ninth, Aaron Judge, whose postseason numbers are well-documented, came up with a runner on first and no one out and Boston closer Aroldis Chapman on the mound. Judge singled up the middle, his second hit of the game, to put the tying run on base. Cody Bellinger followed with a single to load the bases and put the potential tying run in scoring position. But Chapman struck out Giancarlo Stanton, got Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a flyout to right field and fanned Trent Grisham to seal the win.

-Volpe’s second-inning homer was an opposite-field shot to right that traveled 382 feet and gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Volpe turned around a Crochet fastball clocked at 97 miles per hour for his second career Postseason home run. The first was his grand slam in Game 4 of last year’s World Series against the Dodgers. 

-The Yanks held a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning, but after Fried came out, Weaver gave up the advantage. With one out, he walked No. 8 hitter Ceddane Rafaela in an 11-pitch battle. The next hitter, Nick Sogard, doubled to put runners on second and third. Red Sox manager Alex Cora then sent up pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida so he could have a lefty hitter face Weaver. Yoshida swatted a two-run single into center to put Boston ahead, 2-1. Fernando Cruz relieved Weaver and got two outs sandwiched around a walk, limiting the damage. 

-Fried, who had a blazing finish to his regular season, was terrific, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings and leaving to a huge ovation once he had gotten the first out of the seventh. Fried allowed four hits while striking out six and walking three. He threw 102 pitches, 63 of them for strikes. Fried, who was making his 21st career postseason appearance (13th start), trimmed his playoff ERA from 5.10 to 4.66 with the gem. While his final line was spotless, run-wise, he did encounter some trouble. To his credit, he wriggled out of it each time, though.

-In back-to-back innings midway through the game, Fried wobbled but did not allow a run. With two out in the fourth, he walked Carlos Narváez on a 3-2 pitch after narrowly missing striking him out and then gave up a bloop double to right to Nate Eaton. Amidst the threat, Fried fell behind the next hitter, Jarren Duran, 3-0, but rebounded to strike him out with a breaking ball. When he came off the mound afterward, the normally stoic Fried slapped his glove in celebration of getting a big out. Still, it took effort to get through the danger – Fried threw 24 pitches in the fourth inning alone, running his pitch count up to 61. In the fifth, he again walked a hitter on a 3-2 pitch with two out – this time it was Rob Refsnyder – and then gave up a single to Trevor Story. But Fried retired Alex Bregman on a grounder.

-Fried threw seven different pitches during his outing, according to Baseball Savant, and generated 19 swings-and-misses overall. The Red Sox swung at his curveball 10 times and missed eight times. He threw a particularly gorgeous one to strike out Story to end the third inning with a runner on second. 

-The Yankees had an early opportunity when Paul Goldschmidt and Judge clocked consecutive singles to start the first inning. But Crochet dealt with it quickly. First, the Boston lefty got Bellinger to swing-and-miss at 98.7-mph heat for strike three. Then he got Stanton to hit into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play. 

Game MVP: Garrett Crochet

Crochet, who allowed four hits and one run across 7.2 terrific innings. He struck out 11 and walked none. After allowing a solo homer to Anthony Volpe in the second inning, Crochet retired 17 straight hitters until he gave up a single to Volpe in the eighth. Crochet fanned the last batter he faced, Austin Wells, catching him looking at a fastball clocked at 100.2 miles per hour. Crochet threw 117 pitches, 78 for strikes.

Highlights

What's next

The Yankees and Red Sox meet again for Game 2 of the Wild Card series on Wednesday evening as New York looks to stave off elimination. First pitch is set for 6:08 p.m.

Carlos Rodon will take the mound against Brayan Bello.

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