NEW YORK – Cody Bellinger’s flare dropped safely onto the outfield grass late Tuesday, and suddenly the big ballpark in the Bronx was shaking with the promise of an epic postseason rally. Three consecutive singles opened the ninth inning, and for maybe the first time all night, the Yankees looked like they were in business.
Bases loaded, none out and Aroldis Chapman on the ropes – one swing would have stolen Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series from their oldest rivals. Instead, the Bombers watched the Red Sox shake hands on the Yankee Stadium infield soon after, pondering a 3-1 loss that could’ve gone much differently.
“We had a little momentum,” captain Aaron Judge said. “Especially with our lineup, you just want to keep the train moving. We couldn’t pull away with one there or two to tie it, but I like getting a little chance to see Chapman there. We’ll be seeing him over the next two days, that’s for sure.”
One game into their playoff push – not even yet into October – and the Yankees are already facing elimination.
“We’ve been playing with a lot on the line, seemingly every single day,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Tonight was a great baseball game that we just couldn’t get that final punch in. We’ll be ready to go, and I expect us to come out and get one [in Game 2].”
In the history of best-of-three Wild Card Series, Game 1 winners have gone on to win the series 18 of 20 times (90%), including 16 sweeps. Teams to win Game 1 on the road have gone 11-2 in those series, including nine sweeps.
The only two comebacks by teams that lost Game 1 at home came in 2020 (A’s vs. White Sox and Padres vs. Cardinals). The Yankees’ best chance at avoiding this situation came in the ninth, as Chapman worked to lock down a four-out save.
Paul Goldschmidt opened the inning with an opposite-field hit, Judge followed with a single to center and thousands of jumping feet rocked the concrete when Bellinger’s knock kissed turf.
But Chapman recovered, whiffing Giancarlo Stanton on a splitter, inducing Jazz Chisholm Jr. to fly out, then fanning Trent Grisham on a 101.2 mph heater up and in.
The Yankees became the first postseason club to have the bases loaded with none out in the bottom of the ninth but fail to score and lose the game, according to OptaSTATS – hardly the history they envisioned authoring.
“Chappy’s probably been the best reliever in the game this year,” Goldschmidt said. “We had some good at-bats against him; we weren’t able to come through. But if we face him again, hopefully it’ll be different.”
Game 1 started with potential. With Max Fried dealing in his pinstriped playoff debut, Anthony Volpe provided early juice against Garrett Crochet, jolting a 97.1 mph sinker into the right-field seats for a second-inning solo homer.
Volpe immediately pointed into the Yankees’ dugout after contact, watched the drive, then turned back toward his teammates before touching first base. From there, Crochet permitted nothing, retiring the next 17 Bombers before Volpe’s eighth-inning single.
“It felt good to put us ahead,” Volpe said. “These are tight games, tight margins.”
On the pitching side, the momentum shifted in the seventh. Fried exited to a standing ovation after winning a seventh-inning foot race to first base with Jarren Duran, prompting a bullpen call for Luke Weaver. The righty faced three batters and retired none, surrendering Masataka Yoshida’s pinch-hit two-run single.
“That’s a real tough one to swallow,” Weaver said. “I know there’s a lot of disappointed people, including myself. I’ve just got to be better.”
Weaver lost Ceddanne Rafaela to an 11-pitch walk before Nick Sogard laced a sharp knock, digging hard to challenge Judge’s right arm – rehabbed, but still compromised, following a July flexor strain.
“It was something we went over before the game,” Sogard said. “Just reading the play and how he fielded it, it felt like a good time to make that decision.”
Judge uncorked a 73.2 mph throw, below his normal velocity, as Sogard slid safely with a hustle double that set up Yoshida’s go-ahead hit.
“I’m trying to get in there and make a play,” Judge said. “I definitely don’t want to overthrow it. But he’s pretty quick. He got in there.”
Alex Bregman’s ninth-inning RBI double off David Bednar provided insurance for Boston. And now the Yankees must confront this troubling reality: Though the scoreboard crew gleefully replayed the Boone and Bucky Dent homers before Tuesday’s first pitch, the recent history has tilted in Boston’s direction.
In each of the past three postseason meetings between these rivals (2004 AL Championship Series, ‘18 AL Division Series, ‘21 Wild Card Game), Boston has ended the Yankees’ season. They must win the next two games to avoid stamping that same fate onto ‘25. Judge believes they will.
“We have a lot of veterans in this clubhouse that have been through some stuff,” Judge said. “A lot of this team went to the postseason last year, has been to the World Series, been through some tough moments. So we’ll go out there and play our game.”
