By Ryan Lombardi
BRONX, N.Y. — Despite putting the tying run on second with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, the New York Yankees dropped the opener of the American League wild-card series, falling 3-1 to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe gave New York a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a solo home run off left-hander Garrett Crochet. The 26-year-old starter then retired 17 straight batters before yielding a single to Volpe in the eighth. Crochet struck out 11 without a walk, allowing just four hits and one run over 7.2 innings.
Yankees left-hander Max Fried blanked the Red Sox for 6.1 innings, scattering four hits with three walks and six strikeouts. But right-hander Luke Weaver surrendered a pinch-hit, two-run single to Masataka Yoshida in the seventh, giving Boston the lead.
Boston’s third baseman Alex Bregman added an insurance run in the ninth inning with an RBI double that stretched the lead to 3-1.
In the bottom half, left-hander Aroldis Chapman allowed three straight singles to load the bases but struck out CF Trent Grisham to escape the jam and earn his first save of the postseason.
The Yankees will fight to keep their season alive tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:08 p.m. EDT.
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