The look on the faces of many of the announced crowd of 47,027 that packed Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Tuesday night to witness Game 1 of the best-of-three Major League Baseball wildcard series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox was as expressive as if they had articulated their emotions in thousands of words.
The 3-1 Yankees loss put the home team on the brink of elimination when they hosted the Red Sox in Game 2 last night (Wednesday). The Yankees ended the regular season with a 94-68 record, tied with the 94-68 Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League East. But the Blue Jays held the tiebreaker, so instead of the Yankees having an opening round bye, they were matched with their longtime nemesis as a wildcard.
The Red Sox finished third in the AL East at 89-73 and came into the Bronx unnerved. Game 1 was the 2,324th time the Yankees and Red Sox have played each other, dating back to their first meeting in 1903 when the Yankees were named the Highlanders, and it was another gut-wrenching defeat as Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet, a top candidate for this season's AL Cy Young award, retired 17 consecutive batters and went 7 2/3 innings.
The game ended with irony, drama, and symmetry as former Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, then sat down designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (strikeout), second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (fly out to right field), and centerfielder Trent Grisham (strikeout) in succession to settle the matter.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone and right fielder Aaron Judge are the two Yankees under the most scrutiny. Judge, who had another Hall of Fame regular season, leading MLB in batting average (.331) and OPS (1.1440), with 53 homers and 114 RBI, was 2-4 with a strikeout in Game 1. Boone, who has managed the Yankees since 2018, was intensely criticized for removing starter Max Fried, one of the best in the sport, after he held the Red Sox to just one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings and 102 pitches, for reliever Luke Weaver, who immediately gave up two runs in the top of the seventh.
Conversely, Red Sox manager Alex Cora stayed with Crochet through 117 pitches before calling on Chapman.
"They pressured him pretty good in the fourth, fifth, sixth -- you know they had a couple of base runners each inning. I felt like he kind of cruised through the first few, and obviously he ends up pitching great, but I felt he had to work pretty hard..."
The Mets, with a chance to earn a wildcard berth with a win on Sunday, were shut out 4-0 by the Miami Marlins to conclude one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history with a record of 83-79.