Yankees blow lead, lose exasperating Wild Card opener to Red Sox

This is one of those games that will probably be seen in a decade or so as a playoff classic. This is not the first time I’ve had to cover the Yankees losing one of those games, so let me say I don’t like playoff classics, I like winning. The Yankees managed a single run, and the bullpen couldn’t deliver on what should have been a myth-making start by ace Max Fried. It was 3-1 Boston, and New York’s season could end tomorrow in the best-of-three Wild Card Series.

I was a little cautious when the Yankees gave Fried eight guaranteed years, it was a little more term than I liked. The Yankees were betting a lot on his health — it’s paid off in his first regular season in the Bronx, but boy, did it look worthwhile tonight.

The southpaw went 6.1 innings with zero runs allowed. That’s the kind of first playoff start that endears you to the Yankee faithful, and that the final out of his start came on a footrace to first base against Jarren Duran makes it all even more fun.

Alex Bregman managed a single in the first inning but Fried worked around it well. A clean second inning and another meaningless single in the third had us all feeling pretty good about the Yankee lefty, before he started to walk a bit of a tightrope.

Part of this is because of homeplate umpire Junior Valentine, who called a pair of bad pitches in the fourth and sixth that should have been strikeouts of Carlos Narváez:

This leads to Nate Eaton’s bloop single in the fourth, and extra, high-stress pitches even though Fried got out of it. It led to extra pitches in the sixth as well. When the stakes are this high, I don’t care about the “human element”. The human element is the guy throwing the ball, and the guy trying to hit the ball. I’m really looking forward to the ABS system next year.

Fried allowed a pair of baserunners in the fourth, fifth and sixth, but managed to work through them with no damage. Well done indeed.

We may have a nascent postseason legend growing in the Bronx:

Anthony Volpe had an .815 OPS in last year’s playoff run, of course including that mammoth grand slam in the World Series. He comes up for his first at-bat this season and hits a ball that would, ironically, be a home run in every park but Fenway. Nobody in pinstripes has caught more flak this season than Volpe, but a strong postseason will wash all of that away.

Now we have to talk about some bad stuff. Luke Weaver was first out of the bullpen, taking over for Fried with one out in the seventh inning. Ceddanne Rafaela was down 0-2, indeed saw two 0-2 pitches, before working seven more offerings from Weaver and getting a walk out of it. Nick Sogard slapped himself a gutsy double, putting runners on second and third with one out while taking advantage of Aaron Judge’s weakened arm.

The Yankees and Sox had pretty similar goals in this one — stacking their lineup with righties until the starter was taken out, then bringing in their talented left handed hitters as subs. That came first for the Sox, with Masataka Yoshida pinch hitting in that abovementioned spot, and he gave his team the lead:

Garrett Crochet is too good to give away baserunners like Weaver did. And boy was Crochet good — after Volpe’s home run he set down 17 in a row. His stuff was filthy, no question, but then things like the six-pitch seventh inning, where Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and Amed Rosario went down without much of a communal fight, also gave the Yankees a certain feel of marching blindly to the chopping machine.

Volpe broke that streak of 17 himself in the eighth, getting a single to finally put a chink in the Red Sox lefty’s armor. Crochet sat Austin Wells down himself before our old friend Aroldis Chapman entered the game. Chapman actually made a critical error with José Caballero, throwing over to first three times unsuccessfully to give Volpe second base for free. Unfortunately Cabby would fly out to end the threat.

The ninth was pretty painful, so forgive me for sounding a little clinical. Trevor Story and Alex Bregman hit doubles in stereo against David Bednar, 3-1 Red Sox. Just like in the first inning, Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge led off the bottom half of the ninth with singles, and Cody Bellinger did the same to load the bases. There was nobody out, and for just a moment it felt like Mystique and Aura were back in the building.

Then Giancarlo Stanton struck out on three pitches, Jazz Chisholm Jr. flew out on a ball that couldn’t score a run, and Trent Grisham went down swinging. It was a sorry display of capitalizing on an opportunity to tie the game and send it to extras, if not win it then and there against a rattled closer.

Just like that, the Yankees’ backs are to the wall.

We use the term “must-win” game too much. Tomorrow is an actual must-win game. I am not ready to put Aaron Judge on ice until February. The Yankees have got to find a way to get to Brayan Bello and plate more than a single run. Carlos Rodón will be tasked with the unenviable job of trying to match what Fried did today to help force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday. Just like the opener, Game 2 of the Wild Card Series will come just after 6pm Eastern.

Box Score