Game 1 of any playoff matchup is always important considering how it can set the tone for the rest of the series. For the Boston Red Sox, they went into the heart of enemy territory as they faced their sworn rival New York Yankees on the road for Game 1 of their AL Wild Card series clash and proceeded to snatch the hearts of the home team with a dominant 3-1 win that saw incredible pitching performances from two southpaws — starter Garrett Crochet and closer Aroldis Chapman.
There were some nervous moments for the Red Sox to deal with on the road, however. Crochet was dominant all night long and he ended up throwing 7.2 innings of one-run ball, with the lone blemish on his ledger being the solo shot he allowed to Anthony Volpe. He allowed just four hits and struck out 11, but he had already thrown 117 pitches, forcing Chapman into action.
Chapman did get the final out of the eighth and was set up for a strong finish to what has been a thoroughly magical performance from the Red Sox to that point. But the hard-throwing lefty had to make it hard for himself. He allowed three consecutive hits to start the ninth, but the Yankees were unable to score any runs.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the inning, the Red Sox closer locked in and proceeded to strike out Giancarlo Stanton, induce a weak fly ball from Jazz Chisholm Jr., preventing the runner from third to score, and then he struck out Trent Grisham to end the game — putting the Red Sox in the driver's seat of this AL Wild Card series.
Fans wowed by Aroldis Chapman's escape act to earn the save for the Red Sox
It would have been much more smooth-sailing had Chapman simply retired the first three batters he faced. Allowing the Yankees to get momentum when they have the best offense in MLB, not to mention that they were at home, could have been disastrous for the Red Sox. But he got himself out of the jam he started anyway, and fans on social media were wowed.
“Aroldis Chapman, shutting the door on the Yankees in October. You couldn’t storyboard it cleaner,” X user @frattyacids wrote.
“Is aroldis in best reliever of all time conversations,” @Simpsonisbetter asked.
“Aroldis Chapman still doin this s**t in October is beautiful,” @LearnedRebel84 furthered.
“Aroldis has devil magic I just f**king know it,” @dangerbunny17 expressed.
