The history of the MLB wild-card round of the playoffs is a brief one, only dating back in its current iteration three years to 2022. But it’s also decisive. In 12 wild-card series, the team that won the opener went on to win the series, and only twice has the series gone on to a third game. It’s a useful bit of information when considering the 3-1 win the Red Sox and ace Garrett Crochet pulled off over the Yankees in the opener in the Bronx on Tuesday.
Boston has a 1-0 series lead with Game 2 coming in on Wednesday, again at Yankee Stadium, with Brayan Bello facing Carlos Rodon.
Informed of the history of wild-card performance in the past three years, manager Alex Cora tempered his excitement.
“I mean, hopefully we can continue that,” Cora said. “We got a tough one again tomorrow. Rodon has been amazing throughout the season. You know, they’re going to have their left-handed hitters in the lineup. We got Brayan who likes it here, has pitched well throughout his career. But I expect the game to be just like this one.”
Red Sox Pitching Dominated
After the win, Cora relayed a story from Monday when he was sitting in the dugout with Crochet, as some of the Red Sox brass was out in the bullpen. Cora joked that they should call out to the bullpen to see if they answered. Crochet told Cora that once Game 1 came around, he would only be making one call to the bullpen.
That would be to Aroldis Chapman, the Red Sox closer. Crochet was planning all along to get into the eighth inning, and allow Boston to go from one ace starter to the ace closer.
“Tomorrow, you’re gonna make only one call to the bullpen,” Crochet told Cora.
“Yeah. Maybe two,” Cora said.
“No, no, no, one,” Crochet said. “Straight to Chappy.”
Cora said he’d gladly take that.
Garrett Crochet Retired 16 Straight
And it’s what he got.
Indeed, there were only two pitchers needed to take Game 1. Both pitchers needed a moment or two to settle in, but both Crochet and Chapman delivered in the end.
Crochet was shaky to open, allowing hits to Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge to start the game, but working his way out of the early jam with a strikeout of Cody Bellinger and a double play from Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees then broke through with a home from Anthony Volpe in the bottom of the second, staking New York to a 1-0 lead and marking the sixth time this season that Crochet yielded a homer to the Yankees.
Crochet has given up only 19 homers to the other 29 teams in baseball.
Austin Wells popped out for the final out of the second, though, and that would start a string of 16 straight batters Crochet punched out into the eighth inning, where he recorded two outs to finish a sterling line–7.2 innings, four hits, nine strikeouts, one run–before giving way to Chapman.
Red Sox Get RBIs From Masataka Yoshida, Alex Bregman
In the meantime, the Red Sox grabbed the lead in the seventh once the Yankees pulled ace Max Fried. With two runners on, Masataka Yoshida knocked a two-run single, and in the top of the ninth, Alex Bregman‘s rocket double to the left-field corner scored Trevor Story from second base to make it 3-1.
That insurance cushion would be useful, at least for the nerves of New Englanders. Chapman started the bottom of the ninth by allowing three hits, to Goldschmidt, Judge and Bellinger, loading the bases with no one out.
But Chapman responded with two strikeouts and a fly out to end the game.
Brayan Bello Has Been Strong vs. the Yankees
Now comes Bello hoping to close out the Yankees on the road, in a place in which he is notably comfortable. Bello was 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA in his breakout fourth season, and was especially good against the Yankees, going 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts.
In his career, he is 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA at Yankee Stadium.
Said Bello: “I feel like as soon as you put your step on the field, you feel the pressure from the fans, even when you are in the bullpen and when you go to the mound. For me nothing changed preparation-wise, but I feel like that extra pressure from the fans and from everybody it gets me going.”
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