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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE START OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE September 30, 2025 ... In leading his team to a 3-1 victory in Game 1 of this best-of-three AL Wild Card Series, Garrett Crochet announced his presence emphatically, allowing four hits and no walks over 7 2/3 innings while punching out 11.
Considering the stakes and the opposing pitcher (Max Fried), this gamre at Yankee Stadium seemed like a night that Red Sox ace Crochet couldn’t afford to so much as blink. Well, he did just once, when Anthony Volpe took him deep for a solo shot in the second to snap a scoreless tie. But never after that. Boston’s power lefty retired 17 in a row following the homer by Volpe. Crochet just needed a little offense to make his performance stand up. In that game-turning top of the seventh, Ceddanne Rafaela, one of the Sox least patient hitters, worked an 11-pitch, one-out walk against Luke Weaver. Rafaela was the first batter that Weaver faced after Fried left to a standing ovation following 6 1/3 stellar frames. Nick Sogard came up next and hit what looked like a routine single to right-center. Instead, Sogard pushed the envelope, and sliding in with a double.
That set up Masataka Yoshida’s first career postseason at-bat, and he belted a two-run single up the middle to give the Red Sox their first lead. The Sox added a huge insurance run in the ninth on an RBI double by Bregman, playing his 100th career postseason game. Things felt less than settled when Aroldis Chapman, who got the final out in the eighth, got into a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam to start the ninth. The 37-year-old lefty buckled down, striking out Giancarlo Stanton, getting Jazz Chisholm Jr. to fly out to right and then fanning Trent Grisham to close out another rivalry classic. As a result, 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. On top of that, prior to this game, Chapman had faced only one batter with the bases loaded all season before facing three in the ninth inning. The close-out by Chapman was huge. But the starter set the tone. |
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