Game Recap: 2025 AL Wild Card Series, Game 1 – L – BOS: 3, NYY: 1
All the excitement.
All the anticipation.
Yankees-Red Sox. The greatest rivalry in sports.
The rivalry certainly benefited the Red Sox last night, but not the Yankees, who wasted 6 1/3 scoreless innings from Max Fried as they blew a 1-0 lead to Garrett Crochet, Aroldis Chapman, and the Boston Red Sox. The final score was 3-1, Boston. Now, the Yankees are facing elimination and the harsh reality that, in the current best-of-three MLB Wild Card series format, no team has ever recovered after losing the first game.
Entering Game 1, everybody knew that Garrett Crochet was one of the best starting pitchers in baseball and that he would do all he could to shut the Yankees down. What wasn’t clear was whether the Yankees’ pitching would be able to match up with the talented southpaw. But when Max Fried got the ball rolling and got comfortable on the mound, it looked like he could outlast Crochet.
For five innings, the Yankees battled in the batters’ box against Crochet. They extended their at-bats. They fouled off tough pitches. They made the lefty work hard. While they couldn’t score with runners at first and second without an out in the first inning, Anthony Volpe homered in the second to put them ahead 1-0.
But that would be all she wrote for the Yankees’ offense. Crochet managed to retire the next 17 hitters he faced before Volpe singled in the eighth inning. At that point, the Yankees were trailing 2-1.
“That's what you want. You want to face the best,” Aaron Judge said. “We were looking forward to it, and we weren’t able to come away with the win. When we get an early lead like that, we’ve got to keep putting pressure on there and put more on them, because they're a dangerous team.”
Fried finished his start with 102 pitches while Crochet totaled 117. The Yankees couldn’t work a single walk against Crochet, and they struck out 11 times in 7 2/3 innings. But through six innings, it looked like Fried was winning the battle. And he might have done so had Aaron Boone let him finish the seventh inning.
“Coming into [the game], I had faith in the offense and my teammates that if I ended up giving up one or two [runs], I had the confidence that they would be able to have my back and be able to put up a couple more,” Fried said. “I didn't come in thinking I had to come up and throw zeros, but it’s just nice that I was able to do that.”
In the seventh inning, Fried made an excellent play to beat the speedy Jarren Duran to the bag for the first out. He only threw three pitches in that at-bat, but with Ceddanne Rafaela due up, Boone decided to make a pitching change.
“I felt like [Fried’s] command was not as good,” Boone said. “Those final few [hitters], he was just making so many big pitches, and his stuff was good. So, look, he gave us what we needed and felt really good about the outing he put forth.”
But it also felt like Fried had more left in the tank. Hindsight is 20/20. Had Luke Weaver not blown the game in relief of Fried, Boone’s pitching decision would not have mattered. Weaver battled with Rafaela, but the hitter won the war, ending an 11-pitch at-bat with a walk.
“Just a really good at-bat,” Weaver said. “We’ve had some really strong at-bats in the past. It’s gone both ways. That’s a real tough one to swallow when you know you have him in an advantageous count.”
Tough to swallow, indeed, because the next hitter, Nick Sogard, knocked a changeup into right field and beat out Aaron Judge’s throw for a double. Since returning to right field from a flexor strain, Judge’s throwing velocity has decreased from 90 mph to 75 mph, and Sogard took advantage.
With runners at second and third with one out, Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to pull the trigger with his bench and pinch-hit Masataka Yoshida for Rob Refsnyder, whose main role is to face lefties. Yoshida has been a powerful designated hitter for the Red Sox all season, and he drove the first pitch Weaver offered to center field for a go-ahead two-run single.
“I’m trying to rifle one and it didn’t quite go to where I wanted,” said Weaver. “From there, the momentum kind of just switched a little bit. I know there are a lot of disappointed people, including myself.”
After that, Boston was in full control, and in the seventh inning, it took Crochet just six pitches to put out Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and Amed Rosario. It wasn’t just that Boston had shifted the momentum in their favor, but the Yankees were suddenly lost in the box against Crochet. Their at-bats could not have been less competitive.
“He's the best pitcher in the game,” Aaron Judge said. “He’s gonna work all his pitches, work a little bit more off-speed in there early on. But we got the Volpe homer, and we got guys on there, but couldn’t do much after that.”
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Crochet returned to the mound and struck out Trent Grisham before Volpe hit a hard ground ball to center field for a single. With eight pitches, Crochet managed to send Austin Wells down on strikes, and the Red Sox called on Aroldis Chapman to attempt a four-out save.
As deep as the Yankees’ bench is, there was nothing Boone could do when Chapman came to finish the eighth inning. He had to stick with José Caballero as the hitter, since Jazz Chisholm Jr. had already entered the game as a defensive substitution, and there weren’t any lefty-favorable matchups left on the bench. To distract Chapman, Volpe danced off first base, and he got him to commit a disengagement violation. But it wasn’t enough, as Caballero ended the inning with a flyout to right field.
In the top of the ninth inning, David Bednar, the Yankees’ closer, gave up a two-out double to Alex Bregman that plated Trevor Story for Boston’s third run. The insurance run allowed the Red Sox to give Chapman more breathing room in the bottom of the ninth.
The superstar closer didn’t need any help, though. Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger each singled without any outs to load the bases for Giancarlo Stanton, but after he struck out, Jazz Chisholm flied out, and Trent Grisham struck out swinging, the Yankees became the first team in MLB postseason history to load the bases in an inning and fail to score a run.
Oh yeah, they also lost the game.
During postgame interviews, Chisholm turned his back on the media, refusing to face them while answering questions. He was clearly frustrated that he was left off the Yankees’ starting lineup. While his numbers against left-handed pitching aren’t very good, he is a sparkplug for this Yankees team, and he struggles while coming off the bench.
Chisholm expressed that he didn’t feel his team did enough to win, and when asked about being left out of the lineup, he responded, “I mean, we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to win, right? So, that's how I look at it.” He added that Aaron Boone sent him a text about his lineup decision beforehand, and he also met with him for a bit.
“It’s a little conversation, not much,” Chisholm said. “Just move forward after it.”
It makes sense that any player, especially a starter who wears their emotions on their sleeve as much as Chisholm, would be upset that they couldn’t contribute to their team in a losing effort. But it’s also concerning that Chisholm reacted this way, especially with his team’s life against the wall. If Boone loses control of this clubhouse, it will make for another postseason failure caused by poor clubhouse culture and accountability issues.
While Luke Weaver is single-handedly responsible for giving up the lead to Boston, it’s also worth examining why Boone decided to pull Fried at 102 pitches. Fried can reach a higher pitch count, and if he had argued for it, maybe he would have been allowed to stay in the game and continue battling Garrett Crochet.
When asked about his pitch count limits, Fried said, “We're trying to win games. It doesn't really matter about pitches, pitch counts, and all that stuff now. If I'm effective, it doesn't matter if it’s 50 [pitches] or whatever it is. I just want to be an effective pitcher out there.”
So, if his pitch count didn’t affect the timing of his removal, then he must have been experiencing fatigue. Well, when he was asked if he had more left to offer, he said, “Yeah. Whatever the team needed.”
“I came in the dugout, and Boone just looked at me, he said, ‘How are you feeling?’ I said, ‘Good.’ And he said, ‘You got enough for Duran?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, whatever you need.’”
Again, Luke Weaver is responsible for the runs he allowed, and he is to blame for this loss, but perhaps Boone didn’t have to pull Fried so early. After the game, Alex Cora said he was able to extend Crochet’s outing because he had been on extended rest. He added that this game – the first of a best-of-three Wild Card series – was too important to risk, even if Crochet will have to make more postseason starts. Technically, Fried was on extended rest, too, so why didn’t Boone approach his start with the same mentality?
Now, the Red Sox have seen all the Yankees’ high-leverage relievers, while they only had to use one. That doesn’t position the Yankees well for any sort of comeback. However, despite what history suggests, this series is not over yet. Carlos Rodón has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, and he’s scheduled to start Game 2 against Brayan Bello. While Bello has been particularly successful against the Yankees in his career, including seven scoreless innings in August, the Yankees scored four runs off him in their last matchup.
If the Yankees win Game 2, they’ll likely face Connelly Early in Game 3. The young righty has made just four starts in his first Big League season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t beat the Yankees. Nevertheless, it’s too early (no pun intended) to think about Game 3. It doesn’t exist unless the Yankees win Game 2.
“We’ve been [bouncing back] over the last month and a half,” Aaron Judge remarked. “We’ve won a lot of series, and we’ve dropped the first one and have been able to win the next two. It's nothing new. We've got a lot of guys who believe in each other in here. We'll be able to pick each other up and come out tomorrow and try to win a ballgame.”
But the Yankees are undoubtedly in dirty water (pun intended this time) against the Red Sox, and it’s going to take everything they’ve got to win Game 2. Carlos Rodón needs to pitch like an ace, Aaron Boone needs to outmanage Alex Cora, and the Yankees’ offense needs to outscore Boston.
“We're gonna show up tomorrow, and I expect us to do pretty well,” said Boone. But expectations don’t yield results. Winning does.
Game 2 is scheduled for tonight (10/1) at 6:08 PM (5:08 PM) as LHP Carlos Rodón (18-9, 3.09 ERA, 203 K) starts for the Yankees against RHP Brayan Bello (11-9, 3.35 ERA, 124 K) (ESPN).
