Welcome To The Playoffs: Led by Dominant Crochet, Red Sox Take Game 1

The Red Sox went into New York with their ace ready to lead the team against their longtime rivals in what was billed as the best pitching matchup to open the postseason this year. All Garrett Crochet had to do was pitch like his usual self and keep the game close while the Red Sox offense found a way to score runs.

And did he do just that.

Besides one single pitch in the second inning to Anthony Volpe that resulted in a home run, Crochet was better than advertised as he retired 17 straight batters until a Volpe single in the eighth inning broke the streak. With two outs in the eighth (and 117 pitches from Crochet), Alex Cora turned the ball over to his All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman for the final four outs. The offense, tasked with the challenge of facing Max Fried, managed to work his pitch count and knock him out of the game in the top of the seventh as Aaron Boone turned to his bullpen. The relievers struggled, as Luke Weaver surrendered two runs and failed to get an out.

The Red Sox are now one win away from taking the series and will send right-hander Brayan Bello to the mound with a rested bullpen waiting in the wings as the Yankees will counter with Carlos Rodón as they hope to salvage their season. Bello has pitched well against the Yankees this season, as he’s gone 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts. In that span, he threw 19 innings and struck out 17 batters.

Though, let’s review the most impactful plays from the game, per WPA via Baseball Savant:

3) Bottom 9th: Giancarlo Stanton strikes out swinging, +17% Win Expectancy

With the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth inning, things began to look worrisome for both Chapman and the Red Sox. With only a two-run lead, a single from Stanton would have tied the game, and anything in the air was likely to make it a one-run game with the tying run in scoring position.

Chapman didn’t falter, however, and instead buckled down, getting Stanton out on four pitches. The designated hitter swung at all four, first fouling off a 100.3 mph pitch before completely missing the second one. After fouling off a 101.1 mph pitch, Stanton swung and missed on a 92.1 mph splitter, having been caught off guard by the sudden drop in speed.

2) Bottom 9th: Cody Bellinger singles to load the bases against Chapman, -18.2% Win Expectancy

After back-to-back singles from Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge, Bellinger came up to bat and managed to loft a fly ball into left-center that neither Jarren Duran or Rafaela were able to get to. Fortunately for the Red Sox and Chapman, the manner in which the ball was hit—and the known defensive prowess of Rafaela—made it so Goldschmidt had to hesitate and wait for it to drop and was unable to score.

The at-bat itself was over really quick, Bellinger swinging at a 99.3 mph fastball on the first pitch. It seemed to have been intended to be inside, but caught just a little too much of the plate as Bellinger managed to just loft it out into the outfield for a single. With an exit velocity of 87.7 mph, it was the softest hit allowed by Chapman on the night. As shown by the expected batting average of just .130, it was very unlucky for the Red Sox to have it drop in for a hit.

Fortunately, nothing came of it as Chapman buckled down and got the next three batters to strand the bases loaded.

1) Top 7th: Masataka Yoshida singles off Luke Weaver. Ceddanne Rafaela and Nick Sogard score. +22.9% Win Expectancy

This was without a doubt the biggest play of the night, as the Red Sox struggled to score up until this moment. After Fried had been lifted following a Duran groundout, Boone went to Weaver, who promptly walked Rafaela after an 11-pitch at-bat and then allowed a double to Nick Sogard to put the two into scoring position.

Yoshida was then called off the bench, hitting for Rob Refsnyder, who began the game as the team’s designated hitter. In his first ever postseason at-bat, Yoshida swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a ground ball single just to the right of second base and into center field as both runners scored. The hit is Yoshida’s biggest since coming to Boston before the 2023 season and now has Boston just one win away from advancing to the Division Series to face the Toronto Blue Jays.

Next up:

The Red Sox will play Game 2 against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium tomorrow, Oct. 1, with the desire to win and sweep the series against their rivals.