Yanks Can’t Get Final Hit vs Chapman. Boston 3 NY 1

October 1, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Anthony Volpe trots around bases after hitting HR in the 2nd -- he had 2 hits on the night.

Down 3-1 in the 9th, the Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out against Aroldis Chapman on singles by Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger — but Chapman struck out Giancarlo Stanton, got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to fly to right, and struck out Trent Grisham for the ballgame as Boston won Game 1 of the best-of-3 Wild Card series on a beautiful Tuesday night in the Bronx.

Max Fried had won the pitchers’ duel vs Garrett Crochett — leading 1-0 in the 7th on an Anthony Volpe 2nd-inning HR — but manager Aaron Boone relieved Fried at 102 pitches with 1 out in the 7th, and Luke Weaver didn’t have it — walking Ceddanne Rafaela in an 11-pitch at bat, then allowing a single to Nick Sogard that turned into a hustle double, and a single by Masataka Yoshida to turn a 1-0 Yankee lead into a 2-1 deficit.

David Bednar allowed a 3rd run in the top of the 9th after 2 were out — a single by Trevor Story, stolen base, and double by old nemesis Alex Bregman to put Boston up 3-1.

Crochett outlasted Fried — getting the first 2 outs of the 8th and leaving at 117 pitches. At one point he retired 17 Yankees in a row. Afterwards, the second-guessing pointed at Boone for taking Fried out too early.

Boone On Fried & Weaver

“They pressured him pretty good in the 4th, 5th, 6th — he had a couple of baserunners each inning,” said manager Aaron Boone about pulling Fried in the 7th. “I felt he kind of cruised through the first few, and obviously ended up pitching great. But I felt like he had to work pretty hard, and I was going to have the 6th be the end, but once we finished with the double play, I wanted him to go out and get Duran and felt we were lined up.”

On Weaver, Boone said: “Gets ahead 0-2, then with Rafaela lost the strike zone, and then they placed a couple of hits on him where he was maybe a little up on a couple of the pitches more than he wanted — but getting ahead 0-2 to Rafaela and losing him that’s the one that stings a little bit.”

Weaver on His Outing

“I felt very competitive,” said Weaver afterwards. “I felt like my outing overall was competitive. I felt like my pitches were thrown to the areas where I wanted to. They weren’t perfect but every outing isn’t perfect. I felt like I was very competitive, they put a good approach together, put the ball in play, and found the holes.”

NY now has its back against the ropes and must win the next 2 games in the best-of-3 series, at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday night.

1. Goldschmidt & Judge Knock on Crochett’s Door Early

Boone sat the red-hot, lefty-hitting Ben Rice — who hit 2 HR’s on Sunday — to play righty Paul Goldschmidt — who ate up lefties this year — at 1st base against the lefty Crochet. And the move immediately paid off in the bottom of the 1st when Goldy ripped a leadoff single to left.

Aaron Judge followed with a single to left and the Yanks looked like they were cooking.

But Crochet struck out Cody Bellinger and got Giancarlo Stanton to hit into a double play.

2. Volpe HR Puts Yanks Up 1-0 in 2nd

Crochet got the first 2 outs of the 2nd and was cruising when Anthony Volpe ripped a 1-2, 97-MPH sinker into the right-field bleachers for a 1-0 Yankee lead. Volpe who has been BOOED ALL SEASON by Yankee fans.

3. Fried Fantastic

Meanwhile Max Fried was fantastic — playing up to the moment in the big game. He wasn’t perfect — but he was tough. He allowed but a 2-out single in the 1st, pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, worked around a 1-out single in the 3rd, getting a fly out and strike out of Trevor Story to end the inning.

Fried got in and out of trouble in the 4th — a 2-out walk to former Yank Carlos Narvaez and a double by Eaton put runners on 2nd and 3rd — but Fried struck out Jalen Duran to end the threat.

Fried allowed a 2-out walk to Rob Refsnyder and single by Trevor Story in the 5th, but got Alex Bregman to ground out to end the threat.

In the 6th, Fried struck out Remy Gonzalez and appeared to strike out Carlos Narvaez twice — but the ump called two seeming strikes, balls — and Narvaez walked. Fried got redemption when next batter Nate Eaton grounded into a double play at 2nd.

Fried got the 1st out of the 7th — sprinting to 1st to cover on a grounder — and was relieved at 102 pitches — to a standing ovation at The Stadium.

4. Weaver Fails; Cruz with Judge D End 7th

It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Luke Weaver has been pitching terrifically recently, and righthanded batters were due up. And Weaver immediately went 0-2 on the first batter — Ceddanne Rafaela. But Rafaela — who has been red hot in September — fouled off 5 pitches in an 11-pitch at bat and walked.

That began Weaver’s undoing.

Weaver was missing with his fastball but his changeup was getting swing-and-miss. So Weaver threw a changeup on a 1-1 pitch to Nick Sogard and he singled into right — then hustled into 2nd on Aaron Judge — who is still nursing the right bicep issue.

And then Masataka Yoshida singled to center for 2 runs. Boston 2 NY 1.

Fernando Cruz relieved Weaver and struck out Trevor Story but walked Alex Bregman to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Jonathan Lowe ripped a liner to right that could have been 2 runs — but Aaron Judge made a tremendous running catch for the final out.

5. Crochett Fantastic

Meanwhile, Garret Crochet settled down after the first 2 innings and was filthy — retiring 17 batters in a row, striking out 11.

He blew through 100 pitches and pitched into the 8th — when finally the Yanks got a hit on him — again it was Anthony Volpe — BOOED ALL SEASON by Yankee fans — with a single to center.

Next batter Austin Wells worked an 8-pitch at bat — fouling off several pitches — but was called out on a 3-2, 100-MPH sinker that looked inside.

Aroldis Chapman came in — and Anthony Volpe immediately started threatening to steal 2nd — drawing 2 throws from Chapman. Volpe drew a 3rd unsuccessful throw — and was awarded 2nd base (according to new baseball rules).

But Jose Caballero (playing 3rd in the game) flied out to end the threat. Boston 2 NY 1.

6. Devin Good

Meanwhile, Devin Williams pitched the top of the 8th and was terrific — getting 3 straight outs after allowing a leadoff walk to — Carlos Narvaez (who walked 3 times in the game).

7. Bednar Bitten by Bregman

David Bednar pitched the 9th — and got the first 2 outs — but Trevor Story singled to left, stole 2nd, and old Yankee nemesis Alex Bregman doubled to left for a 3-1 Boston lead.

Tim Hill came in and got Lowe to line out to center for the 3rd out but NY was down 3-1.

8. Yanks Load Bases vs Chapman in 9th

The Yanks got cooking right away in the top of the 9th against lefty Aroldis Chapman — a leadoff single by Paul Goldschmidt to right, a single by Aaron Judge to center, and a single by Cody Bellinger to center — bases loaded, nobody out!

But Chapman struck out Giancarlo Stanton on 4 pitches, got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to fly to medium right — Goldy staying on 3rd since his run didn’t mean anything and he didn’t want to risk getting thrown out, and struck out Trent Grisham for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401809254

 

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