Writing Sample: Game Recap (after win)
Crochet (11 K’s) dazzles Yankees, bats come alive late as Sox take Game One
Credit: Yiki Iwamura/Associated Press
By: Jack Lydon
Last update: 9/30/2025 @ 9:36 p.m ET
BRONX – Garrett Crochet told Alex Cora on Monday afternoon that the visiting dugout’s bullpen phone was only going to be used once on Tuesday, for “Chappy” – he was right.
Boston’s ace set a career-high in pitches thrown over 7.2 strong innings of work as the Red Sox defeated the Yankees, 3-1, in Game One of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.
Crochet, 25, etched his name in Red Sox postseason lore with an eleven strikeout gem in Game One, highlighted by a stretch of sixteen consecutive batters retired from the second inning to the eighth.
"Every time he takes the mound, we feel like we have a chance to win," Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman said.
Despite his immaculate performance, Boston found itself trailing for the majority of the game due to Crochet’s lone blemish – an Anthony Volpe solo home run into the short porch in right field in the second inning.
Yankees starter Max Fried was equal to the task set by his counterpart on Tuesday, rifling off 6.1 innings, not allowing a run and striking out six batters. Aaron Boone pulled him out of the game in favor of reliever Luke Weaver in the seventh inning.
Boston went to its bench in the seventh, pinch-hitting righty specialist Masataka Yoshida with two runners in scoring position. Yoshida did not wait around, drilling a first-pitch fastball up the middle for a 2-RBI single that gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night.
Bregman, in his first postseason game with his new team, would add on against a depleted Yankee bullpen, lining an RBI double in the ninth inning to give Boston a much needed insurance run.
Then came the ninth – an inning owned by the former Yankee Aroldis Chapman, reigniting his career with a historic season that saw him convert 32/34 saves and boast a 1.17 ERA for the Red Sox.
It was not vintage Chapman for the first three hitters, with New York’s Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger all reaching with singles to lead off the inning. The Red Sox were in trouble, at risk of blowing a game they had worked so hard to take control of.
Despite a catastrophic start to the inning, Chapman would strike out two of the next three hitters, including Trent Grisham on a 101 mph fastball on the inside part of the plate that ended the game. New York became the first team in MLB Postseason history to not score in the ninth inning after loading the bases with no one out.
Chapman slammed the door, but this night was about Crochet.
“He got traded to become the ace,” Cora said. “He got paid like an ace, and since day one he has acted like that.”
The Red Sox go for a sweep of the Yankees on Wednesday night, first pitch from the Bronx will be shortly after 6 p.m. New York’s season hinges on LHP Carlos Rodon, while Boston will go with 26-year-old righty Brayan Bello.
